Rebirth and Revelations: Sequel to Death of a Hero
by CelticGoddess
Summary: Summary: One year after being reunited with her mate, her family, and her friends Kagome finds herself thrown back into action. Stories of her families past struggles leave Kagome feeling guilty for not being there to help but is there something that he
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters. Also, there are a few characters that I do own but I'm pretty sure you'll be able to pick them out as you are all very smart people. After all….you did find my stories! Lol.

Summary: One year after being reunited with her mate, her family, and her friends Kagome finds herself thrown back into action. Stories of her families past struggles leave Kagome feeling guilty for not being there to help but is there something that her family is keeping from her? Dark patches on their past leave Kagome searching for answers but will she find them in time?

HA! THAT'S ALL YOU GET FOR NOW! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! Check back later though I'm working on the first chapter right now! Review me and I might get that chapter done a little faster. And by review I mean tell me what you think of the summary!


	2. The Beginnings of Negotiations

The gentle breeze blew in through the slightly open window causing the curtains to let the sunlight creep across the face of the occupant in the near by bed. The lumpy shape groaned and rolled over hoping against all hope that the evil light would go away.

The curtains billowed rebelliously as the wind picked up allowing the evil sunlight to creep further still into the room and onto the bed. "I guess this will not be one of those nice sleep in days." Kagome thought to herself as she rolled over and pushed back the covers revealing her in her nice simple white night dress. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed she stretched then yawned. A quick glance over her shoulder assured her of the fact that she had already known; Sesshoumaru was not there.

It had been almost a year since she had been reunited with her family and friends and what a year that had been. She had been meeting new people, learning the family business, catching up on the last 700 years and so much more. Her head had been spinning for the last 6 months but in the best way possible.

Although she had been in a dizzying whirlwind for a while now, Kagome decided that she would not change it for the world. She treasured being surrounded by her family and friends and loved hearing their stories of the past. She only wished she had been there to share it with them and help them through the centuries.

Slipping on her slippers and pulling on a light blue fluffy robe, Kagome made her way down the hall to the kitchen. Opening up her senses she noticed something a little odd. The only other person, family or friend not servant that was in the palace was Shippo. What he was doing home was beyond her; usually he was at the office by this time.

Walking into the kitchen she was greeted with a wide smile. "Morning Okaasan, you sure slept late today. Feeling alright?" Shippo asked her walking around the island counter to give her a hug.

"You guys have been keeping me so busy lately that I needed the extra sleep." Kagome said hugging him back. She then stepped back and at his remorseful look added, "But in the best way imaginable. Honestly, I wouldn't give up one day!" She laughed.

"Well all right. But if you need to take a break I'm sure Otoosan wouldn't mind you staying home today." He told her as he handed her a steaming cup of tea which she took with a smile.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We have a mergers and acquisition meeting at three today and I promised him I'd be there. Which reminds me, why aren't you there?" She asked taking a sip of her tea.

"No reason really just a bit of a late start. It is only ten in the morning. I'm actually heading out now. I'll tell Otoosan that you'll be in later today. I'll see you later Okaasan." Shippo waved, placed his mug in the sink, and walked out the door.

Kagome sat down on one of the kitchen table chairs, grabbed the near by newspaper, and settled in to enjoy her nice quiet morning.

Half an hour later and two cups of tea later, Kagome decided it was time to start her day. She walked down the hall back to her room already thinking of what she was going to wear. She entered her room and walked over to the large cherry wood wardrobe that she kept her clothes in and opened the double doors. Reaching in she pulled out a floor length white flare skirt and a silver button up blouse. Removing the night dress she had been wearing and replacing it with the clothes she picked out she pulled out a pair of flat, silver slip on shoes and headed out the bed room door.

Kagome walked back down the main hallway to the entrance way where she collected her purse, a light sweater and her sunglasses. She then walked out the door, across the courtyard, down the path out of the preserve, and into the parking garage. 'It's a good thing I'm in such good shape or else I would be dead by now.' Kagome thought to herself as she unlocked the Nissan Maxima she liked to use.

The drive to work wasn't a long one; in fact it took just fifteen minutes to get there. Five minutes longer and she was walking in to the main lobby listening to her heels on the polished marble floors. Taisho Corps was the largest company in Japan and was run by Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. The bought and sold companies for profit, did drug research, and also had a division specializing in demon concealment.

Kagome waved and said good morning to the secretary stationed outside the lobby elevators, pushed the up button and walked in after the doors open. She then took out her key, the top 4 floors of the building could only be accessed by this key, and turned it in the lock. The elevator zoomed upward and dinged open just a few short minutes later leaving Kagome to walk out onto the executive floor.

The executive floor really didn't look like an office to Kagome. It looked more like a New York penthouse apartment. As you walked out of the elevator there was a little foyer with a few love seat couches and two coffee tables. Through a set of double French doors the main office took up the whole floor. All along the outside of the building were offices, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Shippo, Rin, a few other people and herself. There was a full kitchen to one side and a sunken living room in the center with couches all along the indent facing a big screen TV.

Kagome waved to the various people now littering the main room and made her way to her own office which was on the right of the corner office, Sesshoumaru's office. Placing her purse down and hanging her coat up on the coat stand she turned right around and went into Sesshoumaru's office.

"Good morning!" She said walking up and giving him a peck on the cheek then sitting down in the chair across from him.

"Good morning." He answered her quickly and then went back to reading the papers in front of him.

"Are those papers for the meeting this afternoon?" She questioned as her interest peeked.

"Yes." He answered shortly again returning to read the papers in front of him.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Kagome began and when Sesshoumaru's eyes traveled up to meet hers she continued. "Why did you want me there for this meeting? You usually handle things of this nature by yourself."

"I wanted you to be there because of the property we are trying to acquire." He answered simply.

Kagome huffed a sigh and then asked the question she knew he was waiting for her to ask. "And what property might that be or vague one?"

"The Higurashi shrine, your family's shrine." He answered.


	3. Pink

Kagome heard what he said but it didn't really sink in. "What?" She asked rather unintelligibly.

"I have been attempting to persuade the current owners of the shrine to sell to us. It has fallen into disrepair and will cost a small fortune to fix up but I believe it is important for it to be fixed." Sesshoumaru stated once again looking down at those damned papers.

Kagome found herself just staring at him again. She didn't know what to say. Well she knew what to say but could not find the perfect words so instead she walked around the desk, placed her arms around his neck, and showed him with a very passionate kiss. After all, he wasn't the most emotional of all beings and this thing that he did meant a whole lot to her.

It was at this moment that Inuyasha decided to come into the office. "Oh geeze!" He stated covering his eyes with one hand. "You know this is the office and not your bedroom don't you?" Then he paused, uncovered his eyes, and got a disgusted look on his face. "Oh god! Bad mental image here are those damn papers you asked for Sesshoumaru, I have to go wash my eyes out." He concluded throwing the papers down

on the desk and walking out of the office leaving Kagome to chuckle and sit back down.

"Does this mean you have been keeping track of my family for all this time?" she asked still attempting to allow the situation to fully sink in.

"Indeed." He answered simply this time watching for her reaction hoping for another one like the one he just received.

However Kagome just smiled and sat back in her chair. "So how many living relatives do I have?" She asked.

"There is only one direct descendent that I know of." He began picking up the papers Inuyasha had just dropped off and continued as she began sifting through the papers. "His name is Kenji. He's thirty four years old, has a wife named Haruka, and a daughter named Sakura who is five years old. They are reluctant to sell the shrine owing to the fact that they want to keep it in the family."

"Well there's and easy fix, I am family!" Kagome laughed.

"I believe that will take a little convincing." Sesshoumaru stated reasonably.

"Well we'll see how good I am at that at three." She said smiling.

"Indeed." Was the reply she got.

"I'm going to let everyone know that everyone in the office needs to be wearing their concealment charms before three this afternoon." She told Sesshoumaru with a smile placing the papers back on the desk and walking out of the door.

As she walked out into the office Kagome flashed back to a year ago when she first learned about the concealment charms that Shippo manufactured in the demonic division of the company. They could be almost anything, a key chain, a necklace, a ring, anything really that you keep on you at all times that hides demonic attributes. Kagome's happened to be the silver necklace that Sesshoumaru had given her in the past. (she left it in the palace before the battle so Sesshoumaru still had it.) Some of them change the color of the hair….or in some cases feathers. Others, like Kagome's and Sesshoumaru's, simply shorten fangs and nails as well as erasing markings.

Most of the time no one wore their charms up on the top four floors due to the fact that everyone who worked there was either a demon or a human that had been let into the loop. That was the reason for the key that accessed the elevators.

The rest of the time before the meeting was spent preparing for it. Kagome wanted to know everything about these people before they walked through those doors and she had learned quite a few things. For one, Kenji was a moderately successful computer programmer and Haruka was a stay at home mom. There was however one dark spot on this little family history. Sakura, their daughter, had juvenile diabetes. Kagome didn't like this at all but not because Sakura was not doing well. She didn't like it because this was something she could fix.

Finally putting down the papers Kagome looked at the clock. See that it was only a few minutes to three and too excited to sit still, she decided to wait for them in the lobby.

Putting her charm back on, she walked to the elevators and walked in. Pressing the big button that said lobby she waited anxiously for the doors to once again slide open.

When she got down to the lobby there was no one there except the secretary whom she greeted with a smile and a wave. Pacing back and forth she waited for them to come in which, as it seemed to her, they never would.

Finally, just as the clock turned to read five after three, they walked in. Kagome recognized them instantly. She would have recognized Kenji with out a picture seeing as he looked so much like her brother Souta.

The family of three walked right past Kagome and to the secretary. "Hello, my name is Kenji and we have a three o'clock appointment with Mr. Taisho." He said pleasantly sounding just as much like Souta as he looked.

The secretary looked behind them to where Kagome was standing. "Miss Kagome, would you like to take them up to the office?" She asked pleasantly know that was probably why she had been pacing the floors.

"Thank you Nasume, I would like to take them up." Kagome answered her then turned to Kenji with her hand outstretched. "Hi, my name is Kagome. I'm Sesshoumaru's fiancé."

Kenji reached out and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kenji, this is my wife Haruka and my daughter Sakura." He said indicating each of them in turn to Kagome who shook their hands.

"It's nice to meet all of you. If you'll follow me I'll take you up to the office." Kagome told them motioning toward the elevator.

"I'd just like to apologize for the lateness. Sakura had a treatment that ran a little longer then we thought." Haruka commented as the boarded the elevator.

"Don't worry about it at all." Kagome assured them. "I'm just glad everyone is doing well today." She added smiling.

The doors slid open revealing the office before them. They walked out onto the main floor through the double doors and walked toward the conference room where the meeting was to take place. Before they entered the room Kagome turned to Sakura.

"Hey darling, do you like to color?" She asked bending down to her level and at the enthusiastic nod she got continued with, "My brother Inuyasha loves coloring and I'm sure he would love a coloring buddy, right Inuyasha?" She asked as he so conveniently walked by.

"Actually I do. And we just some cool new colors to color on the white board with. What's your favorite color?" He asked her mimicking Kagome's posture.

"Pink." The little girl answered shyly.

"Well what do you know?" Inuyasha said pulling a pink marker out of his pocket and presenting it to the little girl. "I just happen to have a pink marker right here. What do you say we go try it out?" Again he received an enthusiastic nod as he led her off to the giant white board that hung on the opposite wall.

Kagome looked at Kenji and Haruka. "He'll take good care of her. He's so great with children it's a shame he doesn't have any of his own yet. Well I'm sure he will one of these days. Please, let's get this meeting out of the way." She prompted opening the door and motioning them in.

**OK AND THAT IS THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME HOW YOU THINK IT'S GOING. Oh and before you say anything I know there are errors. I'm sorry. But I think you would rather a few words be wrong then wait forever to get another chapter. This every day updating will not always happen either. It just so happens that I had a little free time today. But please review and enjoy.**


	4. Cure

The small group of three entered the large conference room with Sesshoumaru sitting at the head of the large rectangular table.

Standing up, Sesshoumaru walked over to greet the small group. "Mr. Higurashi. Welcome." He said simply extending his hand.

Kenji reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you. Please call me Kenji, and this is my wife Haruka." He offered letting go of his hand allowing him to shake hers.

Once everyone was introduced and the door was shut they all took seats at the table. "I've asked you here today, as you no doubt assumed, to talk about the shrine that is currently in your name." Sesshoumaru started not wanting to waste any time.

"Yes. And we came to remind you of the reason that we do not wish to sell at this current moment in time." Kenji responded in a civil tone.

"Kenji, before we go on I think it's best we explain why we want this property. It's not because of how well taken care of because lets be honest, it needs a lot of work. It's more of a personal interest. That shrine was once my home and it's the only thing I have in my past that I can still hold on to." Kagome offered.

"That's impossible. No one has lived there for years and you are not old enough to have lived there when it was in good repair." Haruka added to the conversation.

There was silence for a moment while Kagome picked her words carefully. "Could you please tell me what you know of the history of the shrine, more specifically the legend of the jewel of four souls?" She asked.

"Let's see." Kenji mused more to himself then anyone else there. "I know all of the story. Would you like me to tell it to you?" He asked more or less hoping she would say no, it was after all a long story.

Kagome smiled. "No that's ok I just wanted to make sure you knew the story so I could tell you this…I am the girl in the story who goes back in time with the jewel." After that was said she sat back and waited for that to sink in.

"That's not possible. That was just a bed time story my father told me." Kenji said shaking his head.

"I assure you it's a true story. My mother's name was Sakura Higurashi and my brother's name was Souta. I was originally born around 200 years ago. Would you like me to tell the story?" Kagome asked.

Both Haruka and Kenji dumbly nodded in response so Kagome launched into the long story.

Thirty minutes later…"Which brings us to just a little while ago when I found out who you were." Kagome said wrapping up the longest story she knew surprised at how well they took it. "So what do you think?"

Neither one of them spoke for a long moment. Finally it was Haruka who broke the silence. "You expect us to believe you are some demon with Miko powers that runs most of Japan with her demon mate?" She said with disbelief in her voice.

"Actually I didn't really expect it but hoped you would. I would like to help you with Sakura." Kagome said leaning forward slightly.

"What about Sakura?" Kenji asked getting slightly anxious.

"There really is no reason for her to have the juvenile diabetes. I can cure that so she would never have to go through a treatment again. Maybe after you see that we only want to help you would let us fix up the shrine. Hell, I don't even care if we own it anymore I just want it to be opened and running. It was beautiful when I was little and so peaceful. It's a peace of our history and we should not let it just fade into the background." Kagome stated a little too passionately.

"Wait a second….go back. Did you say you could cure her diabetes?" Haruka asked quickly.

Kagome smiled. She knew she could get to them with that one. "Yes I can and it would only take a few minutes."

"But you'll only help her if we sell you the shrine?" Kenji prompted raising an eyebrow.

At this statement Kagome stood up nearly knocking her chair over. "What kind of monster do you think I am? Holding a child's health over you in order to get something I want. If that's what you think you can just leave." Kagome ended pointing at the door.

"No wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that! Will you please heal her? This isn't something any child should go through." Kenji stammered trying to correct his blunder.

Kagome managed a weak smile as she let herself calm down. "Sure. Let's go out into the main room and I'll heal her right now. Then we can come back in here and we can talk a little more about the shrine. I really would like for you to look at it from my point of view if only for a little while."

"Alright, we'll come back in a few minutes." Kenji responded.

The three of them, with Sesshoumaru staying behind to go over his papers, opened the door to a comical sight. Inuyasha had Sakura up on his shoulders so she could write up high and it appeared they were having the best of times for both of them had giant smiles on their faces and they were singing commercial jingles. For some odd reason Inuyasha also had pink whiskers on his face accented by pink cheeks.

"I guess pink really is her favorite color." Kagome said laughing then catching her breath turned fully to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha do you mind if we borrow Sakura for a few moments?" She asked.

"I guess that would be alright. What do you think Sakura?" Inuyasha asked looking up.

"Yep! Down down down!" She chanted not shy in the least now and once her feet touched the carpet she ran straight for her mother and looked at Kagome with a smile.

Kagome once again knelt to her level. "Hey sweetie would you do me a favor and give me your hand?" Kagome asked in a gentle voice.

Sakura looked up to her mom and dad and at their reassuring smiles accepted the hand that Kagome was holding out.

"Now hunny, you may feel a little bit warm but I promise this won't hurt at all. I'm just going to make sure you don't get sick anymore." She told the little girl holding her hand. She then closed her eyes and allowed her powers to flow from her hand to the girl's hand. She then concentrated on finding places in her body that needed to be healed and worked on exterminating the diabetes.

Two minutes later the glow from both of them dissipated and Kagome opened her eyes. "See I told you it wouldn't hurt." She said smiling softly.

Haruka bent down to her daughters' level just as Kagome was standing up. "How do you feel hunny?" She asked.

"I feel fine mommy. What was that?" She asked innocently.

"I think Miss Kagome just made you all better." Haruka responded running her finger through her daughters' hair. She then turned to Kagome. "Do you have a way to test her?"

"Sure." Kagome responded. "Two floors down is a little testing lab. We can take her there, have some blood drawn, then come back up here and wait for the results."

Twenty minutes later they were all back up in the top office and Inuyasha had gotten his buddy back. The rest of them went back into the conference room and sat down.

"If this works Kagome, if she really is healed…." Kenji trailed off.

"There would be no way we could repay you." Haruka finished.

"Let me, let us, help rebuild the shrine." Kagome said simply.

"Well, how can we say no to that?" Haruka chuckled.

** REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! lol. please! I love hearing what you all think. oh...and the only reason you're getting another chapter is that i got in a writing "grove" and wanted to keep going. You may even get another before the day is done.**


	5. SHIT

**Ok people. Here is where the real story is going to begin! So buckle up and get ready to go!**

"All right so we're agreed. Sesshoumaru and I will finance the renovation of the shrine with you helping where ever you can and we will try to get it up and running again. Right?" Kagome asked trying to sum the goings on of the last hour.

"That sounds good but I think we should add one more thing." Kenji interjected. "I think that when the whole thing is done we should add your names to the deed. So instead of selling it to you out right we will share ownership with you."

Kagome sat there for a moment looking at them and broke out with a wide smile. "That's all that I ask." She said happily getting up to give them both a hug.

The phone rang on the table and Sesshoumaru answered it. After a few 'yes's' he hung up the phone and turned to face the group. "Sakura's blood work is back and the tests confirmed that there is no signs of the diabetes and her kidneys are in perfect health." He relayed to them.

"Oh that's so wonderful to hear!" Haruka exclaimed clasping her hands together.

"Of course you could take her to her regular physician if you have any doubts you may have. I wouldn't object to that." Kagome said.

"I don't think that would be necessary. Why don't we meet at the shrine tomorrow at ten a.m. to see what needs to be done." Kenji suggested with a smile.

"Agreed." Sesshoumaru offered to the conversation.

Kagome smiled and led them all back to the office where Kenji and Haruka collected their daughter and said good bye.

After the doors on the elevator closed Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru. "Well it seems that I was pretty convincing." She said with a smile.

"No, you didn't convince them to sell. What you convinced them to do is let us pay for all the work and then get our names added to the deed." He responded.

"Well we will still have rights to it." Kagome retorted. "And that's all I really wanted. It'll be nice to have it back up to standards." She finished and then walked toward her office to finish the rest of the work she was supposed to do.

The day came to an end with nothing more eventful then a paper cut leaving only one thing to do, go home. Kagome walked down to the garage with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru and split up when it was time to make her way to her car. The ride home was mercifully short as all she wanted to do was change in to her pajama's and go to sleep and when she arrived home that was exactly what she did. In her mind, the sooner she got to sleep the faster she would get to see the shrine back in good shape.

The following morning Sesshoumaru woke up to a smiling Kagome staring at him. "What?" Was the only thing that he could think to say at that particular moment.

Kagome giggled. "Nothing, I'm just excited. I can't wait to get this project up and running." She finished rolling over on to her back and smiling at the ceiling.

"In order to do that we must get dressed and be there in three hours is that enough time to get ready for you?" He asked with a smirk and a raised brow.

He was answered with a back hand to the chest. "You know," she began, "Most of the time it's you takes longer then me. So I don't want to hear it Mr. 'gotta get my hair right'." She added to the slap while he just laid there and let her have her moment.

After a few more lazy minutes in bed, Kagome decided that it was time to get up and face the day which, as it turned out, was a rare day indeed. She was going back to her old home to fix it up and both her and Sesshoumaru got dressed and had breakfast at in a reasonable amount of time.

"Will you sit still?" Sesshoumaru sighed watching Kagome fidget with everything in the living room.

"I can't…." Kagome admitted shyly pulling at the hem of her shirt.

"If you really cannot wait why don't you just go on before us?" he suggested with a sigh reading a page from the newspaper. He waited for a few moments and when he didn't get a response, realized she was gone. Smirking to himself he went back to reading not wanting to show up an hour early.

Kagome arrived moments later at the shrine. The place that she grew up in had hardly changed. Sure it needed to be cleaned up and some pretty serious repairs needed to be made here and there, but all in all it was still the place she used to call home.

She began walking around mentally taking stock of the damages. The roof of the main house needed to be redone as well as the siding. There were massive crack in the concrete flooring that covered the courtyard. Looking around there was hardly one thing that could not do with some sort of repair.

Her eyes continued to roam over things that would need to be repaired until her gaze rested on the well house. The place where the portal to the past was first activated now lay in almost destruction. The roof was mostly caved in and the door rested on one hinge.

She slowly and cautiously approached it. She wanted to see the condition of the well itself but she did not want injure herself. Reaching out and touching the hanging door she subsequently jumped back as it fell to the floor in a cloud of dust causing her to cough.

Stepping over the fallen door Kagome entered the dank room. It was just as she remembered it only in disrepair. The well stood in the center of the room almost in the same weathered condition. She could swear she also felt the same magical aura that would transport her from one era to the other.

'The well feels like it's still active.' She thought to herself as she inched nearer to the mouth of the well and peered over. There was only time to utter one word before the well engulfed her in it magic and pulled her down into the darkness. "SHIT."

And that was it. The magic receded into the darkness leaving nothing but the dank smell of mold and dirt.

Sesshoumaru arrived moments after the last traces of magic disappeared and walked over to the well. Leaning down to look at the bottom of the well he smirked.

**You know...I couldn't help but notice that I got sooooo many hits but only two reviews. I might have had this up sooner but the lack of reviews kinda didn't motivate me. lol. PLEASE PLEASE REVEIW! **


	6. Again?

Kagome found herself once again caught up in the magical blue swirls that she came to link with the well. How the well became active again was beyond her, all she knew is that it worked now. What lay on the other side was still a mystery, a mystery she wasn't sure she was ready for.

The swirling mist gave way and her feet touched solid ground. The dank air gave way to dry open air as the sun shone down on her warming her face. 'Oh crap. Now what's going to happen to me?' Kagome thought to herself as she gracefully leapt from the well to land on the soft lush grass of the past.

Kagome's eyes gazed out over her surroundings. The village was much larger then she remembered. She could hardly make out Kaede's hut that once stood on the very edge of the village. She could see villagers wandering around here and there but no one seemed to notice her.

She sat down in front of the well and rested her back against it. "What am I going to do now?" She thought out loud.

"I don't know what are you going to do demon?" A voice responded to her question.

Kagome looked up at the young woman who had asked the question. She was dressed in the garb of a Miko and was skillfully pointing an arrow at her. 'Great, just what I need.' She thought to herself.

"Look, I'm not here to cause any trouble." Kagome said fixing the Miko with a stern gaze.

"Then what are you here for?" The Miko asked not wavering in her stance.

Kagome sighed and rested her head on the well behind her. "I don't know. Ever have one of those days where you just don't know what is going on?" Kagome asked raising her head once again to meet the gaze of the woman before her.

The Miko relaxed her stance a tiny bit and continued to look back at the demon sitting on the ground. "Actually, I'm having one of those days right now. Who are you?" She asked tilting her head slightly to the side.

"My name is Kagome. Could you tell me where Kaede is?" Kagome responded figuring Kaede was the best person to help her in this situation.

The Miko standing before looked shocked. "How do you know that name?" The arrow once again poised to strike.

"She was a friend of mine. Where is she?" Kagome questioned again standing up.

"Kaede passed away nearly two hundred and thirty years ago. I am Hana and I have studied all of Kaede's teachings. Do not come any closer to this village or I will purify you." Hana stated menacingly.

"Two hundred and thirty years?" Kagome gasped under her breath. Then, one thought popped into her head. "Sesshoumaru." Her eyes snapped to the west as if she expected to see him standing right there.

"How is it you know the lord of the west? He has not been seen for as long as I can remember. You show up here asking of events that happened centuries ago yet my guess is you are not from around here. Tell me what you are up to." Hana threatened again with her arrow still pointing toward her.

"You know what? No. I refuse to answer any more of your questions. Who do you think you are standing there pointing a weapon at me expecting me to roll over and tell you everything you want to know? Go ahead and shoot me. I promise your arrow will not get close to me." Kagome said heatedly growing tired of this constant questioning.

Kagome heard the twang of an arrow being released and used a Miko barrier to deflect it. "Is that it? That's all you've got? That's what I thought. Now it's time for you to answer some of my questions. If Sesshoumaru hasn't been seen in nearly two hundred and thirty years who is in charge of running the western lands?" Kagome asked taking a step forward.

Hana looked terrified and backed away from the angry demoness. "Lord Inuyasha cares for the western lands. He makes a trip to our village once a week to make sure everything is safe." She told Kagome taking another step backward.

"When is the next time Inuyasha is coming to the village?" Kagome asked taking another step forward.

"Tonight. Please…." Hana said taking two more steps backward. "….Don't hurt me."

Kagome sighed and stopped walking. She didn't mean to terrify this young girl but she was just so angry. What did she have to do to make her life normal? How many more events would she have to work through just to have a little peace? She would make damn sure that she wouldn't die again and forcing other people to answer her questions seemed to be the only way to make that happen.

"I'm sorry." She told Hana honestly. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just angry. I don't know how I ended up here again…and I don't know what I'm supposed to do to get home."

Hana relaxed a little bit. She seemed to notice that Kagome wasn't going to hurt her. "Well, since you don't seem to mean us harm why don't you come to my hut and wait for lord Inuyasha to come? I'm sure he can help you with your problems." Hana suggested.

"You're right. I'm actually surprised he doesn't know I'm here already." Casting one last glance at the now dormant well she walked to stand next to Hana. "Let's go." With a smile the two of them were off to the hut earning somewhat odd glances here and there.

"Would you care for some tea?" Hana asked Kagome as they settled into a sitting position on the hut's floor.

"Yes please." Kagome responded with a warm smile taking in the sight of the hut that she had been in so many times before. It was odd to be back here again with out her friends. Taking the cup of tea offered to her she decided it was time to ask a question that was nagging on her mind. "So you said you studied Kaede's teachings?"

Taking a sip of her own tea Hana answered. "Yes, Kaede left numerous journals of Miko techniques and recipes. It has been very helpful this year. There has been much sickness."

"Do you think I could see some of these journals?" Kagome asked as her curiosity peeked.

"I'm sorry but only a Miko of this village may see them. They are one of our greatest resources and we cannot let them fall into the wrong hands." Hana answered seriously.

"I'm sure Kaede wouldn't mind me seeing them. After all, she used some of those books to help me learn how to use my Miko powers." Kagome offered.

"What? How can you be a Miko?" Hana asked nearly spilling her tea.

Kagome opened her mouth to answer the question but was cut off by the feel of a familiar aura. Inuyasha had just arrived. "Inuyasha's here." She said simply placing her cup on the ground next to her mat and standing up making her way to the entrance of the hut.

Poking her head out of the door she watched as Inuyasha landed on the ground a mere twenty feet away. As soon as his feet touched the ground he looked up and her eyes met his.

"Kagome." He gasped.

**See what happens when you guys review? YOU GET A CHAPTER REALLY REALLY QUICK! Soooo keep up the reviewing and I promise I'll keep up the writing!**


	7. The library

"Kagome?" Inuyasha gasped looking at her as if he was seeing things.

"Yes it's me." She responded smiling softly at him.

"How?" He asked not quite knowing what to say.

"I really don't know. I was standing next to the well then it dropped me here." Kagome told him honestly shrugging her shoulders.

He didn't respond but chose to close the distance between then to catch her in a bone crushing embrace…which she returned fully. He pulled back suddenly and fixed her with a serious look. "You need to come with me to the palace. Sesshoumaru needs to see you." He said beginning to drag her toward the palace.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Inuyasha." She responded pulling her arm from his grasp.

"What? Why not?" He asked stunned that she was even questioning him on this.

"I can't stay here. I have to find a way to get back home it just isn't a good idea for me to show up, give him hope, and then disappear." She told him.

"I can't believe you." He stated heatedly. "Do you know what happens to most demons when their mates die? They die themselves. The fact that Sesshoumaru is one of the strongest demons in Japan just means that when you died…" he paused for a moment. "He lost a part of himself and locked himself away. He won't talk to anyone, he doesn't sleep, and he doesn't eat. You have to come and see him even if it's for a few minutes."

Kagome was ashamed of herself. She hadn't thought of how he handled her death. She just assumed that since he was well adjusted in the future that he was the same in the past. "You're right." She admitted and then turning to waved to Hana and looked at Inuyasha. "Let's go."

"Damn right I'm right. Next time you start acting so foolish I swear I'll beat you." He told her giving her a scorching look.

"You know I think it's absolutely fascinating the way you go from insightful to asshole in three seconds flat." Kagome responded dryly.

Inuyasha didn't respond to her little remark. Instead he began the short journey to the palace with Kagome in close pursuit.

Hana stood and watched them leave with many thoughts running through her head. This woman who called herself Kagome obviously knew lord Inuyasha and lord Sesshoumaru. What she couldn't figure out was how she knew them. Kagome didn't dress like she was from around here and she didn't even know what year it was. All things considered this was very strange. She headed inside to read through some of Kaede's journals hoping to shed some light on the situation.

Five minutes later Kagome and Inuyasha came to a stop at the front gates of the palace. It looked the same now as it did in the future with the exception of her not knowing the guards at the gate.

Inuyasha gave the signal to open the gates and as they swung open Kagome could see the main palace. Swallowing hard she followed Inuyasha as he made his way past everyone and into the palace.

Turning to look at her behind him Inuyasha began to inform her of the situation. "He's been in the library for a while now looking for something to bring you back." He told her.

"And he's not talking to anyone?" She asked nervously as the came nearer and nearer to the library.

"No, no one has heard from him in a very long time. I just occasionally stand outside the door telling him what's going on in the lands but I don't usually get any response what-so-ever." He told her as the finally came to a halt in front of the large double oak doors of the library. "Be careful when you go in there. He might not recognize you at first. He is not the same demon you left behind."

Kagome nodded and watched as he walked away before turning and looking at the door in front of her. Slowly she reached for the handle of the door and turned. Locked. She sighed and knocked firmly on the door. As soon as she took her hand away from the door she heard the sound of furniture smashing and books and papers being torn.

She knocked again. "Sesshoumaru?" Growling. "Sesshoumaru, its Kagome. I need you to open the door for me." More growling. This was NOT going to be easy. "Please?" She tried.

The door clicked and began to slowly swing inward. Cautiously Kagome made her way into the darkened room. Her first impression of the library was that it had suffered an earthquake and a hurricane all at once. There were pieces of broken furniture and ripped paper everywhere. The heavy curtains were drawn covering the large two story windows that lined the walls making the library have a very horror story atmosphere.

As her eyes scanned the room she almost missed Sesshoumaru who was sitting in the corner with his knees drawn to his chest. His hair was unkempt and his clothes were dirty and torn.

The aura in the room was one of desperation and despair. Tears began flowing down her cheeks as his aura finally reached her. She knew she had hurt him when she left but she could never imagine this intensity of feelings coming from him.

"Sesshoumaru…" She sobbed. "Sesshoumaru it's me, Kagome." She began walking closer to him but was stopped almost instantly as one of his clawed hands wrapped around her throat and she was pinned against a wall.

Her hands began to pull at his. She looked into his eyes that were blood red and tried to get through to him. "Sesshoumaru please it's me. Please stop you're hurting me." He simply growled at her.

She had no choice. The world around her was beginning to grow darker then it already was as she was loosing oxygen. She gathered her powers and zapped him hard enough that he let go and leapt across the floor leaving her to slide down the wall gasping for air.

He sat crouched looking at her. He was like a wild animal tilting his head to the side studying her.

"Sesshoumaru." She tried again. When he didn't respond again she tried something different. "God damn it Sesshoumaru. Snap out of it. I'm sorry I had to leave you before but I had no choice. If you don't snap out of it in five seconds I swear on all that is holy that I will leave this library and leave the palace for good!" She yelled.

That probably wasn't the best thing to say. She found herself once again pinned to the wall this time with her arms pinned above her on the wall.

She found herself face to face with a very angry Sesshoumaru. "If you do that I swear I will hunt you down and make you very sorry." He replied catching her off guard.

Kagome laughed through the tears that had never stopped coursing down her face. "I'm sure you would." She said simply watching as the red began fading from his eyes.

"How are you here?" He asked still in the same position as before.

"Do you really care right at this moment?" She asked as the last bit of red receded from his eyes leaving amber eyes boring into ice blue.

"No." He answered honestly removing his hands from her arms to rest around her waist and pressing his face into the crook of her neck.

Kagome laughed as her arms came down and she placed them around his neck.

**Thank you to those of you who reviewed me! I love getting even the smallest review! But...there haven't been much of them. That would be why you had a wait a little bit for this chapter. Just wanted you guys to know that it takes me anywhere between half an hour and and hour and a half to write these chapters so you taking a minute to write an "it's great!" or a "it sucks" doesn't seem so hard now does it. lol. Please review and give me your feedback! **


	8. Reunion

Inuyasha looked out of the window into the courtyard and watched as the sun rose above the horizon. It had been nearly eighteen hours since Kagome had gone into the library and she had yet to come out. Needless to say he was getting more then a little worried. Deciding to go check on her he headed down the hall.

The door to the library was open when he arrived before it. Poking his head inside and glancing around quickly he noticed that Kagome and Sesshoumaru were no longer in the room. The thick drapes were pulled open so anyone looking in could clearly see the destruction of the once beautiful room. Smiling slightly he backed out of the room to go look for his two missing family members.

Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her Kagome went in search of fresh clothing. Her outfit she had been wearing now lay in shreds on the floor and she chuckled to herself as she thought about how they had come to be in that state. Laughing out loud, Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"What is so funny?" He asked breathing lightly on her neck.

"Nothing…I just really liked that outfit." She teased turning around to rest her check on his slightly moist chest. Leaning back she looked him in the eyes. "Let's get dressed then we'll get everyone together and I'll explain a few things."

"Indeed." He said releasing her reluctantly and going in search of clothes for both him and his mate. Him and his mate, it was nice to think like that again. Having her back brought him back to his senses.

Ten minutes later Kagome and Sesshoumaru were walking through the halls attempting to collect the members of the family. This was a feat in and of itself owing to the fact that the palace WAS pretty big and their family was all spread out. At least that's what Kagome thought.

Halfway to the common room they ran into Inuyasha…almost literally. "Hello Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru said simply in greeting as if the last two hundred years or so had never happened.

"Hello yourself, nice to see you out of that library although I'm sure the servants won't be too happy to see what you did to it." He said with a sly smile noticing their change in attire.

"Yes well it will not happen again." Sesshoumaru retorted not liking to be reminded of his little stint of insanity.

"I sure as hell hope not. It's time for you to take back the reins of the west...I'm over it." He responded flippantly. "Oh, I've already sent word to Sango and Miroku to come back to the palace with Rin and Shippo. They should be here any time now. Shouron is in the common room waiting for us." He finished turning to walk toward the common room.

Walking into the common room was a very interesting thing. All at once she found herself spinning through the air held close enough to a body that she could tell who it was by scent but far enough away that her legs flung free in a wide circle. After her little trip her feet were returned to the ground and she finally got to see her attacker.

"Hello to you too Shouron." She laughed giving him a less enthusiastic hug, but large hug.

"How is this possible?!" He asked her holding her hands in his. "I thought you were gone." He added a little more subdued.

"We're going to wait until the others get here before I go into that little explanation. It's hard enough to explain once let alone seven times." She laughed letting go of his hands and walking to one of the large comfy sofas.

Shouron seemed to notice Sesshoumaru's presence for the first time and bowed. "It is nice to see you again my lord."

Sesshoumaru merely nodded his head and went to sit by Kagome. The next several minutes passed with unremarkable small talk and were relatively comfortable until the doors opened and the last four people they were waiting for walked in.

All at once tears began to cascade down Kagome's cheeks as her two children, who were well over two hundred but looked only about ten or eleven, walked in accompanied by two of her best friend. "Shippo, Rin!" Kagome squealed running toward them and picking one up in each arm cradling them to her and kissing them all at once.

"Okaasan!" They cried in unison as they both clung to their mother with tears in their eyes and disbelief in their voices.

A few tearful minutes later Kagome placed the two children down, who ran toward Sesshoumaru to hug his legs, and turned to Sango. Sango just stood there with shock written all over her face before lunging at Kagome nearly knocking her to the ground in a massive hug.

"Kagome, I thought I'd never see you again!" She said sobbing into Kagome's neck.

"I thought the same thing. But here I am!" Kagome responded patting her friend who was like her sister on the back in an attempt to comfort her.

Next it was Miroku's turn for a hug. This time when his hand started sliding south of the border, she didn't stop him. Hugging him tightly she whispered in his ear, "You get one…after that, you lose the arm."

Chuckling Miroku pulled away. "Fair enough." He said. "Now, I believe you owe us an explanation." He added walking over to the couch.

"I don't OWE you anything. However I will explain as much as I know. I myself am still in the dark on certain aspects of my current situation." Kagome told him honestly.

Once everyone was settled on the couch in comfortable positions, Kagome began. "When I gave up the last bit of energy of my life to kill alter Kagome, I thought that was it. Instead I opened my eyes and I was standing in this beautiful meadow talking with midoriko. She told me that I was to be reborn in the future but I would not have my memories. Well I would have my memories but they would be suppressed. She added that you all would have to find me in the future and awaken those memories." She paused to gauge their reactions. Most of them seemed to be taking it well so she continued. "Then she told me I would not be reborn when I thought I would. But it all worked out. You find me in the future and make me remember who I am."

"So how is it you ended up back here?" Inuyasha asked.

"It was really odd. I was at the shrine looking at the well which I could feel was inert. Then as I got closer something happened and I was sucked down into it. That's when I ended up here and had that run in with Hana." She told them then continued. "Now that I think about it I think I was meant to come back here to help you Sesshoumaru." She added looking at him.

"And since you did this what do you purpose is your next step?" He asked quietly.

"I'm not too sure. However I do think that since I have accomplished that particular task that the well can take me home." Kagome responded.

Shippo and Rin crawled into her lap which completed the family pyramid. Kagome was sitting in Sesshoumaru's lap and the children were sitting in hers. It made for a funny family portrait.

The arm around her waist tightened. "My life is now in the future with the future versions of you. If I stay here it will throw off the course of history. At least this time you will know what is happening and we will be able to say good-bye. I know it's not what you want but it's the best I can give you." Kagome told them.

**Just so you all out there in fanfic land know, I have the next two chapters written up but I'm not going to post them until I get some feedback. Lol. Yeah that's right, I said it. Review me!! Lol. Anything will do. I don't wanna keep writing this story if I don't know how you like it. Or how it's going.**


	9. A familiar feeling

Kagome chased the children around the courtyard in a spirited game of tag. Sesshoumaru watched from his spot under the tree with Inuyasha while Miroku and Sango sparred in the background.

Tapping Rin on the shoulder Kagome shouted, "Tag, you're it!" and ran away giggling as the little girl turned in pursuit.

Sesshoumaru watched all that was going on. He had his family back together and that pleased him immensely. All the time he had spent in the library searching for the way to get his Kagome back and here she was. Now the only problem was that she was going to be leaving and there wasn't much he could do about it. The only thing he could do was spend as much time with her as possible. And he fully intended to take on that challenge head on.

Kagome fell on the ground tackled by both Shippo and Rin laughing. "Alright, alright you win!" She laughed harder as they began to tickle her ribs. "I surrender!" The three of them lay there for a while longer before they got up and went to sit under the tree with Sesshoumaru.

When Kagome's stomach rumbled quite loudly Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow in her direction. "I believe it is time for lunch."

The mere mention of the word lunch was enough to get them all up and practically running to the kitchen. Once there, Kagome whipped up some ramen from scratch for them. They all ate it gratefully, none more so then Inuyasha who looked as if he was trying to swim in his bowl.

"Take it easy Inuyasha or you'll choke." Kagome laughed taking a bite of her helping.

"Mmmmmhmm." Was the muffled reply she got.

She laughed and continued eating. Lunch finished shortly and they all cleaned up and went about doing other things. Soon the sun began to set and it was time to have dinner and put the children to bed.

"Okaasan, will you tuck us in?" Shippo asked eyes wide with hope.

"Absolutely, come on lets go get ready." Taking the children by the hands she walked with them toward their bedrooms.

After the children were changed and all of their nightly rituals were observed, Kagome sat on the edge of Rin's bed, which both children were now laying in, and looked at the children. It was so nice to see them once while they were still younger. She had missed all the younger years but she thought to herself that this might help ease that one hurt.

"Okaasan will you sing that song that you used to sing to us when we were little?" Rin asked sweetly.

"Yeah, the one from that movie that you liked from the future!" Shippo added enthusiastically practically vibrating with excitement.

"I know which one you're talking about. If I sing it now will you promise to remember it for years to come?" She asked.

"Yes we will Okaasan!" They both said.

"Alright then." Kagome propped herself up in between them and put an arm around each of them. Then she began singing the song that summed up her life in the feudal era.

"were strangers  
Starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming  
What we'd have to go through  
Now here we are  
And I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you

No one told me  
I was going to find you  
Unexpected  
What you did to my heart  
When I lost hope  
You were there to remind me  
This is the start

Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey

I'll be there  
When the world stops turning  
I'll be there  
When the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you

We were strangers  
On a crazy adventure  
Never dreaming  
How our dreams would come true  
Now here we stand  
Unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you

Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey

I'll be there  
When the world stops turning  
I'll be there  
When the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you

I knew there was somebody somewhere  
Like me alone in the dark  
Now I know my dream will live on  
I've been waiting so long  
Nothing's gonna tear us apart

Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey

I'll be there  
When the world stops turning  
I'll be there  
When the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you

Life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river I wanna keep going on...  
Starting out on a journey  
Life is a road and I wanna going  
Love is river I wanna keep flowing  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you."

Kagome stopped singing and looked down at the children who were both sound asleep. Smiling, she brushed the hair away from their faces and gently dislodged herself from their grasp. Standing up she noticed Sesshoumaru standing in the doorway.

"Remember that song ok?" She asked him with a sad sort of smile.

"May I ask why?"

"It's important in the future. That's really all I can say without risking changes to the future." She told him as she came to stand next to him.

"Alright, I'll accept that answer for now. Let's go to bed." He said putting an arm around her waist and leading her to their room.

Over the next few days Kagome made occasional trips to the well with Sesshoumaru and the rest of her family to see if it was working. It was on one of these trips to the well where a wolf messenger appeared and began asking Hana to come with him.

"Please Miko; my lord and his mate are in dire need of your assistance. She is in labor and there appear to be complications. Your Miko abilities would be of much use." The young wolf said as he knelt before her.

"I'm afraid I do not know anything about demon births. If I were to go I most likely would not be able to help." Hana told him honestly with regret. She really did want to help and she knew that if a demon came to a human Miko then the problem really had to be severe.

Kagome who had been listening to the conversation near by looked at the wolf. Thinking to herself that this might be another reason for her extended stay here she decided to do something. "Take me to where your lord is. I'm sure I could help." She said kindly.

The wolf demon looked at her skeptically. "What makes you think you are any more qualified to help then her?" he said motioning toward Hana with his head.

"The more time you stand here arguing with me the worse off your lords mate is. Do you want to be responsible for the death of her and her pups?" Kagome asked firmly, hands on hips.

The young wolf paled. "Very well, please follow me." He stood up and hurriedly and ran toward the forest.

Kagome quickly turned toward Inuyasha. "Please take the kids to the palace." Then she looked at Sesshoumaru. "If you're not coming may I borrow Tenseiga?"

"I plan to go with you." He told her slightly irked that she thought he would not follow her.

Kagome smiled then ran off to follow the wolf. It didn't take long for them to catch up with him and after they did they were only running for a few moments. Soon the foliage cleared and Kagome could see where the wolves called home. It was a beautiful place, beautiful and very familiar. There was a cave and a waterfall.

The young wolf brought them into the cave and pointed them in the direction of his lord.

"Kouga?" Kagome said in an unbelieving tone.

**Just so you all know I do have two more chapters all written up and I am very thankful for the reviews I have gotten so far. Also chapter eight has been re-written a little towards the end….just a little minor fine tuning. So keep up the good reviews and enjoy! p.s...the song is from the movie anastasia and is called at the beginning. lol. i love that movie!**


	10. Future promises

Kagome stood at the mouth of the cave absolutely astounded. She didn't know Kouga had a mate. She would have to file this under 'kill the wolf' and make sure the order was carried out when she returned to the future.

At the sound of Kagome's voice Kouga had turned around. "Kagome, is that you?"

"Yes it's me now enough talking I came to help your mate." She said shortly glaring daggers at him.

Kouga was taken slightly aback at her tone of voice and he most certainly hadn't worked out how she was standing there before him. What he did know was that if anyone could help Taikai, it was Kagome.

Kouga led Kagome in to a small chamber in the back of the cave where Taikai lay. She was very pregnant and looked to be in a lot of discomfort. Turning her gaze from Taikai she looked at Kouga. "Do you have a midwife here?" She asked him.

"Yes we do and she has already been sent for. She should be arriving shortly." He answered quickly eager to do anything he could to help.

"Good because once I start she is going to have those pups." Kagome told him. She looked over at Sesshoumaru who had followed them in to the cave and held out her hand. Without asking anything he slipped Tenseiga out of his belt and placed it in her hand.

Kouga watched the exchange. "What's that for?" He asked getting a little bit nervous.

"This is just a precaution. I'm sure it won't come to this." Kagome said in a comforting tone...or at least more comforting then she had been treating him. After all, it wasn't this version of Kouga she was angry at, it was future Kouga.

Kagome turned from Kouga and walked over to Taikai. She was a beautiful demon. She had long silky black hair, emerald green eyes, and the best cheek bones Kagome had ever seen. She slowly walked over to her.

"Hello, I'm Kagome and I'm going to be doing my very best to help you out today." She said kneeling next to the furs that Taikai was laying on. "I want you to know that I am a friend of Kouga's and I happen to be a Miko and I will not hurt you." Kagome said soothingly. "I'm going to put my hands on your stomach now." She said attempting to explain the process.

Placing her hands on her stomach, Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel and almost see the pups inside. One of them was breech which is what Kagome assumed was causing the problem. Opening her eyes she looked at Taikai. "One of your babies is breech, not facing the right way for birth. I'm going to try and shift it so it will be safe during delivery." Kagome told her.

"How are you going to do that?" Taikai asked her grimacing as another labor pain hit.

"Well, I'm going to use my powers to shock him so he'll move. And just so you know this won't hurt him at all it will just make him shift his position. But I'm not going to do that until the midwife gets here." Kagome told her calmly.

"Your powers? So you really do have the powers of a Miko? How is that possible?" She asked.

"That is a very long story and one that is perhaps saved for a better day somewhere in the future." Kagome said smiling.

A few minutes past before Kouga walked up to her with an older female wolf. "Kagome this is Sanba, our tribe midwife."

"Pleased to meet you. In a few moments I'm fairly sure she begin birthing the pups." Kagome told the woman placing her hands back on Taikai's stomach and concentrated.

Kagome once again visualized the pups. This time she focused more on the pup causing the problem. Summoning her Miko powers she shocked the pup and smiled slightly when it did exactly what she wanted it to do. It shifted so it was ready to be born. And born it was! Not one minute after Kagome removed her hands and moved out of the way of the mid wife did Taikai begin to have contractions and deliver the first pup who was healthy and happy.

An hour and a half later the last of the three pups had entered this world. All were healthy and all were screaming mightily. The only problem was that Taikai had yet to stop bleeding. Kagome walked over to her and began using her Miko powers to staunch the bleeding before it was too serious, which she did.

Kagome and the midwife cleaned off the pups, cleaned off Taikai, and gave her fresh furs to lie on. Then Kagome went to get Kouga.

Walking out into the main room of the cave Kagome spotted Kouga in the corner and smiled. "You have three healthy and happy pups and one very tired mate." She said pleasantly.

Kouga just stood at her staring for a minute. Then he closed the distance between him and Kagome and hugged her in thanks. Putting her down he ran in to see his new family leaving Kagome to walk over to Sesshoumaru.

"I just want to stay for a little while longer then we can go." She told him with a small smile as she handed him his sword. "We didn't have to use it thankfully."

He accepted the sword with a nod and replaced it in his sash then walked to the mouth of the cave.

Kagome sat and talked with Hakkaku and Ginta for a while. They had a just a few questions about her sudden appearance at the cave which she answered happily. Their conversation was cut short as Kouga appeared in the room next to her holding his three new pups with a great big smile.

"Kagome, I don't know how it is that you're here but I'm glad you are." He said with a smile.

"I'm not here for long Kouga, but I'm glad I could help." She said standing up. "Now I think I'm going to go, I need to check on a few things."

"What do you mean you're not here for long?" He asked confused.

"I mean that soon I'll be going back to where I come from. But don't worry, I'll see you again. And when I do see you again you can expect a beating. How could you not tell me you have a mate?" She scolded.

"You weren't here for me to tell." He told her getting a little flustered.

Kagome sighed. Of course he wouldn't know what she was talking about. But he would know soon enough. "Not now…I'm talking about in the future." She told him. "Well, I'll see you later!" She said hastily. All of this time travel was beginning to give her a headache. All she wanted to do was return to the future and put all this behind her. She deserved a little peace and quiet.

Exiting the cave she stood next to Sesshoumaru. "I think it's time to go to the palace. Also, I have a feeling that tomorrow I will be able to get back to the future." She told him.

Sesshoumaru didn't respond. Instead he gathered her to his side and summoned his transportation cloud and headed off to the palace where he intended on spending as much time with her as possible. He wasn't sure if he was ready to lose her again but he knew he would cope to the best of his ability.

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Let me know if you like the direction this story is going. and don't worry...I have a few ideas for future chapters. At this moment I still have 2 more chapters to upload for you so the more reviews the faster you get them! **


	11. Goodbye surprises

**Sorry about the late update guys…**

**Sorry about the late update guys….I've been a little disheartened by the lack of reader response and haven't really wanted to type anymore. But I had the sudden urge to write some more…or may just to type on the computer so I'm giving you a small update. Before I start this chapter I'd like to thank maire 53 for reviewing EVERY chapter and emailing me. Sorry I didn't get back to you but I didn't really know when I was going to update and I figured this would be a better response. So here ya go!**

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Sesshoumaru and Kagome arrived back at the palace to questioning faces. It seems the news that Kagome had gone to help a demon lords' mate had spread throughout the palace in record time. Kagome had to explain what happened and who it was about eight times over the next few hours before Sesshoumaru had had enough.

"Enough questions." He said simply glaring at the small crowd that even now surrounded Kagome. "If she is to leave tomorrow there are better things to occupy our time with."

The crowd around Kagome grew quiet at the thought of losing her again. Kagome noticed this and it killed her. She would do anything to stay here and go through the next several hundred years with them. That's all she really wanted to do at this point. But somewhere deep inside her she knew it couldn't happen. It would disrupt the time line and she didn't want that. As much as she wanted to stay now, her life in the future was too good to risk.

"Way to kill the mood Sesshoumaru." Kagome said with a smile. "But yes, I do have to try to get back tomorrow. I think my time here has run out." As she said these words she knew it was the truth. She knew she would have to say good bye to them tomorrow and the well would let her home. What she didn't know is how her family and friends would take it. "I need you all to promise me something." She said. "I need you to promise me that you will go on like I'm still here. I know it will be hard but I'll see you again in the future and we'll be a family again. Can you all promise me that?" She asked looking around at the faces that surrounded her.

Kagome got the response she had been expecting. All her friends and family nodded solemnly. She could tell that they didn't want to go on without her but the prospect of seeing her in the future gave them hope.

The rest of the day was spent causally talking and playing games with the children. No one wanted to think of what the following day would bring…especially Sesshoumaru. In fact, he had hardly spoken a word since they had gotten back to the palace and had not left touching distance of Kagome. Even now he was sitting on a bench with her in the garden watching the children play with Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha with her head resting on his shoulder.

Night finally fell. After a light dinner, which no one really ate in anticipation of the following day, it was time to go to sleep. Kagome said her good nights to the rest of the gang and went to tuck in Rin and Shippo.

"Oka-san?" Shippo asked quietly as she pulled the covers under his chin.

"Yes Shippo?" She answered just as quietly.

"Do you really have to go? Don't you want to stay here with us?" he asked on the brink of tears.

Kagome brushed the bangs out of his eyes and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Yes sweetheart I do have to go. But I want you to know that if there were any possible way for me to stay here with you and everyone else I would. There's just too much in the future with you and our family that I don't want to risk changing. I know you won't understand this now but I hope by the time we meet in the future you will." She told him.

"But I want you to stay!" he said latching on to her neck and squeezing.

Kagome chuckled and hugged him just as hard back. "I know you do. And I know I want to stay but I just can't." she said tears forming in her own eyes.

They stayed in this hug for a few minutes before she felt the arms around her neck slacken and knew he had fallen asleep. Laughing lightly she laid him down on the bed and covered him up. Placing a light kiss on his cheek she walked next door to Rin's room.

"Where were you!" Rin squealed when she saw Kagome walking through the door.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I was with Shippo. I'm here now and it's time for you to go to sleep." Kagome told her walking over to her bed and pulling up the covers. "And before you ask, yes I do have to leave and yes I do want to stay with you. I just told Shippo that I would give anything to stay here and live through the years with you. But there are some things that are going to happen that I want to still happen and I'm afraid that me being here will disrupt the time line. I'm not meant to be here now but we'll be together in the future, ok?"

"I'm going to miss you." Rin answered quietly.

"I know you are sweetie, and I'm going to miss you." Kagome hugged the little girl, tucked her in and stayed with her until her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. She then stood up and walked out of the room taking one more glance of the tiny child.

Kagome continued down the hallway to her bedroom where she knew Sesshoumaru would be waiting. Finally reaching the large double oak doors she entered. Sesshoumaru was standing out on their little balcony looking out into the moon filled garden. He had a look of deep thought on his face as he turned to meet her eyes. She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his waist resting her cheek against his chest.

"Are you going to be alright?" She asked tightening her arms a bit.

He didn't answer. He just placed his arms around her and squeezed. Maybe if he held on long enough and tight enough she would have to leave him. He brought his face down to the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. He was going to miss her. He was going to miss her so much it would be unbearable.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked timidly.

"I will survive." He said simply pulling her toward the bed for their last night together.

The sun rose the next morning entirely too early. Kagome was still wrapped in a tight embrace…almost too tight actually. She chuckled to herself quietly earning her a slight tightening of the arms that encircled her.

"What could you possibly find funny on this day?" Sesshoumaru's deep voice questioned from behind slightly irked at her little burst of mirth.

"I was just thinking how it was funny that I could hardly breathe" she said simply.

"What?" He asked rather inarticulately.

"You're holding me so tight I can hardly breathe." She told him lightly. After all, she didn't really mind.

His arm loosened a tiny bit. "Can you breathe now?" He asked sounding slightly concerned.

Kagome giggled. "Yes. Thank you." She turned in his loosened arms and rested her face on his silken clad chest. "Are you ready for today?" She asked growing more concerned that the time she would have to leave grew closer.

"I will never be ready to lose you." He told her his arm tightening once again. "However, I believe that the prospect of seeing you in the future will ease the separation."

"I need you to promise me something." She told him looking up into his amber eyes.

"Anything." He told her without a moment's hesitation.

"I need you to promise me that you will not revert back to the state I found you when I arrived here." Kagome stated then waited for the answer.

"I promise. I will not go back to that state. I will control myself." He responded with effort. The promise he just made would take even more effort to pull off then the actual words had been to say.

Kagome smiled brightly at him and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. "I knew you wouldn't let me down. And you won't….ever." She leaned back on his chest and they both sat there for a while longer enjoying being in each others arms. But the time did come for them to get dressed and have breakfast, not that anyone wanted to eat.

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The sun was high in the sky by the time the group of people going to the well set off. It was a quiet journey. Everyone was too lost in their own thoughts to say anything. Kagome and Sesshoumaru were riding on his transportation cloud together, Inuyasha was following below, Rin and Shippo were riding Ah-Un, and Miroku and Sango were on Kirara.

When they finally arrived at the well the silence was still not broken. Kagome walked over the worn wood and touched it warily. She could feel the magic of the well pulsing under her hand and she removed it quickly as if she was just burned.

"The well is active." She said simply to the group as she turned back to them. At once she could smell the scent of tears in the air. Sango, Rin, and Shippo were already sniffling and wiping their eyes. Kagome smiled and walked over to embrace them.

Good byes lasted longer then she thought they would. She would have liked to do it like a band aid. One quick bye then bam, right down the well. But she wasn't sorry it was taking this long either. A little closure was good for everyone.

Finally it was time to say good bye to Sesshoumaru. This was the one part that she dreaded more then anything. She walked over to him and instantly found his face nuzzling the crook of her neck by his mark.

"Remember your promise." She said through tears.

"I will." He said simply claiming her lips for the last kiss he would give her for the next few hundred years.

Pulling apart and with one last sniff, Kagome waved to her friends and family and flung herself over the edge of the well. She felt the others melt away as the mystic powers of the well caught her and flung her forward in time.

Kagome's feet touched solid ground and she began the climb out of the well. There was something off about the well house. It was in good shape. The door was no longer on the floor where she had left it and the roof was fully intact. She pushed the door open smoothly and walked out into a dream. The house of her past was there just as she remembered it.

"Kagome?" Someone said.

Turning her head to the sound of the voice her breath hitched in her throat. "Mamma?"

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**Now are you guys gonna review some more for me? PWEASE?!**


	12. The end of a journey

Kagome stood rooted to the spot

Kagome stood rooted to the spot. It wasn't possible. She was standing in the courtyard of her home with it looking the same as she remembered it. She was also standing not twenty feet away from her mother who had been gone for more then one hundred years.

"Mamma?" Kagome croaked again still not believing her eyes.

"Kagome? How is this possible? Sesshoumaru just came through here telling us you were…that you were….dead. He told us you were dead. Why would he do something like that if you were alive and well?" Her mother said as tears poured down her cheeks taking shaky steps forward.

Some realization of what was going on finally caught up with Kagome. The well had sent her back to say good bye to her family. Tears coursed down her face as she ran to encircle her mother in her arms.

The two women stood like this for a few more minutes before Kagome pulled away. "Where's grandpa and Souta? I need to talk to you three." She said wiping the tears away.

"Grandpa went to get Souta from school. Like I said we just had a visit from Sesshoumaru. Honestly Kagome, why would he do something like that to us?" She asked her daughter giving her another hug.

"I'll explain everything when grandpa and Souta get here so you can all hear it together. He wasn't trying to pull some sick joke on you. He was trying to do the right thing. Let's go inside and wait for them." Kagome took her mothers hand and led her into the house where they sat on the couch just enjoying each others company.

Ten quiet minutes later, grandpa and Souta walked through the door. "Kagome?! Dear child how is this possible?" Her grandfather exclaimed looking from his daughter to his granddaughter.

"Grandpa, Souta have a seat. I have something very important I need to tell you." Kagome told him seriously and as soon as they were seated she began. "What Sesshoumaru came to tell you was the truth." She stated bluntly. "I did die."

"But how is that possible? You're here now!" Souta called out standing up abruptly.

"Sit down and listen and I'll tell you the whole story." She told him in an older sister tone and as soon as he sat down she continued. "There was a battle outside the palace. I ended up fighting an evil version of myself. It's complicated. But the moral of the story is in order to save the world I had to expend all the energy I had to kill this being which led to my death." She paused to take a breath and was interrupted again.

"Which leads us back to how you are here." Her mother asked.

Kagome sighed. "After I died I ended up in a garden of sorts. I was talking to the ancient priestess Midoriko. She told me that my sacrifice would result in a reward. I was to be reborn in the future but not when I expected. I was born on May 13, 2005 to a pair of noble demons not far from here. I was born without memories of the past and did not rejoin with Sesshoumaru and the rest of them for 161 years."

"So what does all of this mean Kagome?" Her mother asked.

"In the future the shrine falls under disrepair. Sesshoumaru and I try to fix it up with some of your descendants. I got sucked down the well and sent back 200 something years after my death there. Then after a short time there the well sent me here. I can only assume it sent me here to say good bye." Kagome told them.

"What do you mean good bye? You're here now so what's stopping you from staying?" Souta asked her in an unusually sensitive moment.

Kagome smiled softly at him. "I don't belong here anymore. I need to go back to the future where I belong."

Kagome's mother stood up. "You belong here with your family. Don't you even think for one moment that we're going to let you go." She said.

Kagome smiled sadly. "I have to momma. If I stay here the future might not turn out the same as it is now. It's a good future momma. If you were in it id be a great future. You have to know that I wouldn't leave if I had a choice right?"

Her mother sat back down on the couch and rested her head in her hands. "I know. I just don't want to lose my baby girl."

Kagome got up and walked across the room to give her mother a hug. "The well stopped working once I was through momma. That means that I've got some time here. Now it might be seven minutes or it could be seven days. But we'll spend it together and when the well lets me through I'm going to have to leave. It's not the greatest situation but it's the best we have."

Her mother hugged her back. "You're right. We'll make due."

The Higurashi family talked for a while about odds and ends. What Kagome's life was like in the future, what had happened in detail in the past, and what had happened to the shrine in the future. Kagome, of course, didn't go into much detail about the future. She didn't want to disrupt the timeline. That damn timeline that was keeping her from her biological family and her rightful time.

A day passed then three, then a week and still no sign of activity from the well. Kagome and her mother sat on the floor of the living room putting together photo albums for Kagome to take back with her. Souta, who had not been to school in a week, and her grandfather were out cleaning the shrine grounds. Making albums was too boring for them.

It was another three days before the well showed any signs of activity. Kagome was grabbing a glass of water when she felt a shift in energy coming from the well. Perhaps shift was too big of a word…it was more like a cosmic hiccup. Placing the glass down by the edge of the sink she walked outside and toward the well house. Walking once more in to the inky darkness of the well house she approached the well. Placing one hand on the rough wood and once she was sure that it wasn't active, she went back for the glass of water.

The following day Kagome awoke in her bed with the ever evil sun shining on her face and her miko powers on high alert. The well was active. It was time to leave.

She got out of bed, showered, and got dressed. She then walked down to the kitchen to meet her family at the breakfast table. It must have been the look on her face but she got the impression that her family knew it was time. She took a quick look in the living room over her shoulder and found all of her albums in a neat pile by the door.

"I guess you know then." Kagome said simply as she sat down and took the plate offered to her.

"That it's time for you to leave us?" Her grandfather asked and continued at a nod from Kagome. "Yes. Even I can feel the activity in the well with my limited powers."

The rest of breakfast continued without much conversation. No one seemed to be in the mood to say anything. Kagome expected this. It was much the same when she left Sesshoumaru and the others. As slow as everyone was eating the time still came for her to leave. They cleared the dishes, gathered up Kagome's things, and walked with her down to the well.

"Are you sure about this Kagome?" her mother pleaded.

"Am I sure that I have to go? Yes. Am I sure that I want to go? No, but it is the right thing to do momma and I have to do it and I will." She told her mother with a tight hug.

Kagome's mother hugged her only daughter with all the strength she had in her arms and wiped the tears from her eyes. "If you're sure sweetheart. I'm going to miss you more then you will ever know."

"Oh I know momma because I'll be missing you about the same amount if not more." She then turned to her little brother. "You need to go to school, do well, find a girl, and have a great life. Do you hear that? Because if you don't, I'll know and you might not be there to punish but your descendants will be." She told him sternly then laughed and gave him a hug.

"I'll do that Kagome." He said hugging her back. He looked at her shyly for a moment then took a deep breath. "You are probably the coolest big sister ever. I'm going to miss you."

"Awww thanks Souta. I'm going to miss you too." She told him ruffling his hair.

Finally she turned to her grandfather. "Keep on going with the shrine the way you have been. It's still there in the future so you must be doing something right. I'm going to miss you. You taught me so much about the shrine and the history of our family. Thank you." She hugged him and he hugged her back.

"Just remember everything I taught you. You're going to need to pass that valuable information down to future generations." He told her releasing her from his hug and patting her on the shoulder.

Kagome took a step back and collected her albums and looked at her family. This was going to be the last time she would see them. Tears continued to trickle down her face as she smiled at them. "I love you all. Please don't be sad for me. I'm not dying; I'm just going on a super extended vacation. I'll keep you all in my heart; keep me in yours, good-bye everyone."

Her family waved back at her and she threw herself into the well. She sobbed as the magic of the well once again caught and transported her into where she hoped was the future.

Her feet touched the solid and damp ground. Looking up Kagome saw the broken down roof of the well house and could feel Sesshoumaru near by. Leaping lightly out of the well she spotted Sesshoumaru standing three feet from her. Placing her albums down on the ground she walked over to him wrapping her arms around his waist. Feeling his arms come up around her she began crying. She had lost her family all over again and it hurt.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru stood in the courtyard of the shrine for another hour until Kagome's tears subsided. Rubbing her eyes clear she looked up at Sesshoumaru. "I would really love to go home right now." She told him.

"Then that's where we shall go." He told her taking a thumb and wiping a stray tear away. "And then you can give me my reward for keeping my promise." He told her with a quirked eyebrow and leading her toward the palace.

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**Hey everyone. I just wanted to say something real quick. While it might not be logical for me not to write when no one reviews that's how I work. When no ones reviewing I feel like no ones reading my story and I feel like what's the point. So when I don't get reviews I type for me, when I want to type, and how long a I want to type. When I was getting a lot of reviews I felt like I was writing for the readers…and I like it like that. So keep reviewing please and I'll keep writing. Lol. Bye for now!**


	13. Confrontations and future forbodings

Kagome and Sesshoumaru arrived back at the palace shortly after they left the shrine.

Excluding the time it took Kagome to run back and get her albums that she left in the courtyard in her haste to get home. Now the two could be found sitting in the large living room talking to their friends and family.

"You were gone longer then we thought you were going to be. You were only with us for a few days but you've been gone a couple of weeks. Where were you the extra time?" Inuyasha asked leaning forward waiting for the answer.

"Well after I left you the well took me to see my family. I spent a week and a few days there and then the well took me back here. I even got some family albums from my mom." Kagome said with a faraway smile at the thought of the memories she now had.

"That's great Kagome! I know how upset you were that you never got to say good bye to your family." Sango exclaimed. "How are you holding up?" She asked a little more concerned.

"I'm surprisingly good. I mean I'm still sad that I won't ever see them again but I feel like they knew I was ok and I know their ok and that makes me feel great. And I'm here now and I have you all and Sesshoumaru so I think I'm in a good place right now." Kagome told them. "Plus tomorrow I have to fulfill a promise to Kouga." She added.

"What does that mean?" Miroku asked.

"Just come by the office tomorrow and you'll see." Kagome answered mysteriously. She did have every intention of going in the following morning and making Kouga sorry he'd kept his mouth shut…for once.

"Count me in for that show!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

Kagome laughed then yawned. "Alright everyone, I think it's time I say good night. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again." She yawned again and stood up. "I'll see you all tomorrow." She began walking to her bedroom when Sesshoumaru appeared at her arm. Taking his arm they both walked down the long corridor to their room together.

The following morning Kagome could hardly wait to get to work. She was angry that Kouga had kept this secret from her and as she got ready to go to the office she thought of what she planned on saying.

Donning a pair of dark blue jeans and a grey tank top she walked toward the door. "You are up early." She heard from the bed.

Reaching out and turning the knob she looked back. "Yes I am. I'm not leaving just yet though. I'm going to go and get something to eat. Do you want anything?"

"No thank you. I plan on spending a few more minutes in bed. Care to join me?" He asked quirking an eyebrow.

Kagome walked over to the bed and placed a chaste kiss on his waiting lips. "I would love to but I have things to take care of this morning." She told him standing up.

"And what about me, am I not worth taking care of?" He asked this time raising both eyebrows in her direction.

"I thought I did that last night?" She smirked.

"That you did. I was hoping we could have a repeat performance." He smirked back.

"Hush. I'm going into the office. I'll see you later." Kagome said smacking him lightly on his shoulder and once again walking to the door. "Behave." She added as a side note.

Listening to Sesshoumaru's humph and smiling softly, she finally left the room.

It was another few minutes before she actually left the palace. She made a pit stop in the kitchen to grab something to eat and read a little of the morning paper. When she finally did leave it was with a little more pep as she headed for the office in her favorite car.

Finally, finally she was at the office. She parked the car, walked into the lobby, and made her way to the penthouse office. Kagome bounced up and down on the balls of her feet waiting for the doors to open. When they finally did she walked calmly out and straight to her office. She needed to take her time and act like nothing was wrong.

Depositing her sweater on the back of her chair she went in search of Kouga. He wasn't hard to find. He was in his office working on some paperwork in his inbox. He looked up when she walked in.

"Oh hey Kagome, you're back. How was your trip?" He asked innocently looking up from his work.

"Oh you know. I did a little of this and a little of that." She told him nonchalantly as she walked in and closed the door. "What were you up to?"

"Loads of paperwork. That's about it." He told her looking questioningly at the closed door. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I was going to ask you the same question. Is there anything you were planning on telling me?" Kagome asked taking a step toward the desk with a small smile on her face.

"Ummmm…." He thought. "Nothing comes to mind." He told her shrugging.

Kagome took another step toward the desk clasping her hands in front of her. "You can't think of anything? Nothing at all?"

"Nope don't think so." He confirmed.

At this point anger filled Kagome and she walked over to the desk. "There's nothing you want to tell me huh? You don't want to tell me about your mate and children?" She asked him smacking him hard on the shoulder. "What about the tiny fact that I delivered your children?" She asked smacking him again.

"Ouch Kagome, that hurts!" Kouga said getting up trying to fend off her blows.

"Yeah well it hurts just as much knowing that you kept that from me for all this time. I've been back for a whole year!" She shouted at him. "A. Whole. Year!" She added punctuating each word with a blow to his body.

Backing away from her swinging arms. "Kagome I'm sorry, I didn't want to mess up the timeline. I didn't know what that information would do to the past. You needed to go back to save Sesshoumaru. We couldn't risk it." He said catching her wrists.

"Do you people know me at all? How many times to I have to die before you all trust me to do the right thing?" She shouted at him with tears welling in her eyes. The fury she had felt a moment ago faded completely and was replaced by a sense of betrayal. How could her friends and family not trust her? "Even if you had told me I would have gone back." She added quietly as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

"How do you know that?" Kouga asked her.

Kagome looked up at him. "You're asking me how I could know that I would in fact go back in time to save my mate. Gee Kouga I don't know. You sent someone to a human village to ask a human miko for help to save your mate. Going back in time is easier then that." She scoffed.

"Kagome I'm sorry. I should have known better. Will you forgive me?" He asked lowering his head.

"I don't know. I should but I don't feel like I'm in the forgiving mood." She said turning away from him and crossing her arms.

"Oh come on! Please?" He begged walking around her trying to get her to look at him.

"How are you going to make it up to me?" She asked still looking away.

"How about you and Sesshoumaru come over for dinner tonight?" He offered. "And I'll re-introduce you to my family. How does that sound?"

"I think that may begin to make up for this outrageous oversight." She said looking at him through squinted eyes. "But we'll see how dinner goes before I make my final decision. I'll see you tonight." She told him turning and walking toward the door.

Kagome turned the handle and the door swung open causing Inuyasha to eat carpet. Looking down at him she asked, "Don't you have demon hearing?"

Still on the ground he answered. "Yep."

"Then why are you leaning against the door to listen to our private conversation?" She asked folding her arms over her chest.

"Dunne." He replied still not moving.

"Well, whatever. Enjoy your time on the floor." And with that she walked away.

Inuyasha stood up and looked at Kouga. "You really are on her shit list aren't you?"

"I wouldn't be talking. Wait until she finds out what you and Sesshoumaru are keeping from her." He answered ominously. "She's already proved that she can handle anything life can throw at her. I think you should trust her a little more."

"You know perfectly well that if she found that out it would destroy her." Inuyasha stated.

"And she might just destroy you when she finds out. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm behind in my work." Kouga said gesturing toward the door and watching as Inuyasha walked out. It will be an interesting few weeks….that's for sure.

Kouga sat down at his desk and began working on the ever mountainous amount of paperwork. He also began to mentally prepare himself for the dinner he would be having later that night.

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Thank you for the reviews! Keep it up and there will be more to come!


	14. AGAIN!

Kagome walked back to her office, perhaps a little louder then she should have judging by the glances her coworkers were throwing at her. She opened the door and walked to her chair. Taking a seat and facing her desk she began to mentally review what had happened over the last few weeks. She had gone back in time, saved her mate, delivered one of her good friends' children, said good bye to her family, and returned to the present.

"Is my life ever going to get easier?" She thought out loud to herself.

"The prospect is unlikely." Said a voice from the doorway.

"Sesshoumaru, if you're not going to say anything helpful don't say anything at all." Kagome muttered with a smirk in response.

"Apparently I missed a good show. If you had told me you were planning on beating Koga I would have made an effort to make it to the office before now." He said sitting down in the chair across from her.

"Yeah well you know, the early bird gets the worm and the late bird gets nothing." She smiled.

"I shall have to remember that for next time. I would not want to miss another beating."

"Which reminds me, Koga invited us over for dinner tonight to make up for his not telling me he has a mate and children thing. Hope that's alright." She told him.

"I guess I could clear my incredibly busy schedule of T.V and sleep..." he trailed off looking away from her. "But it will be a huge inconvienience and you will owe me greatly."

Kagome stared at him for a moment. "Well then I guess you don't have to go. I can go by myself." She told him getting up and walking around him.

"That's not what I was saying." He said raising an eyebrow at her as she passed.

"Well I don't know if I can afford to pay your "price"." She told him. "So you stay home and I'll go alone. However, you may miss another smack down. And I can't be held responsible for what you miss."

Sesshoumaru stood up from his chair and faced her. "I will attend dinner with you free of charge. This time." He told her following her out of the office.

Kagome turned and kissed him gently on the cheek. "Thank you. OH! I almost forgot about the renovations at the shrine. Are they still going to happen?"

"Indeed. While you were away they were put on hold. We were also using that time to fine tune the details. However, now that you are back we fully intend on pushing through with the work." He answered.

"Good, I'm glad."

Sesshoumaru and Kagome spent the remainder of the day catching up and things that she had missed while she was away. There was some paperwork she had to catch up on, some phone calls she had to make, and there were a ton of little things she had to do. There seemed to be one thing after the other that she had to deal with. At least there were no enemies she had to fight, right?

"Are you ready to head home?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Kagome looked up from her work and smiled at him. "I am SO ready to go home. It's not even funny how much I want to go home." She put the last piece of paperwork into her "out" tray, grabbed her sweater, and headed to the door. When she reached it she made a discouraging noise. "Argh…I forgot about dinner at Kouga's."

"If you would prefer staying home I'm sure he'd understand. Most likely he'd be overjoyed at insuring the safety of his being for the remainder of the day." Sesshoumaru told her on the way to the elevator.

"You're right but we're still going. I want a chance to see his mate again. I'd also like to see how his children grew up." She told him summoning the elevator.

Sesshoumaru stood silently besides her waiting. It seemed he would not get out of dinner so easily.

"Oh come on, it won't be so bad." Kagome reassured him reading his body language.

Sesshoumaru was saved from replying by the soft ding of the elevator as the doors slid open. Both of them stepped into the elevator and pushed the lobby button.

While waiting for the doors to open on the lobby Kagome thought about the night that was to come. She was going to be seeing people she hadn't seen in a while, a very long while. She always got nervous right before big reunions. But this was Kouga and Taikai. They both knew her and would welcome her into their home with open arms. The doors open at the lobby and she began to get a little excited.

"How does Taikai look? Is she pretty much the same as she was when I met her in the past?" Kagome began to ramble on the way to the car. "Has she asked about me? What has Kouga told her about me?"

"Kagome, calm down. Kouga has told her everything that he knows, she looks exactly like the last time you saw her, and she has been telling us to reintroduce her to you since you regained your memories." Sesshoumaru told her reaching the car first and opening the door for her.

"Finally someone in this situation that has a brain…" Kagome muttered as she slid into the car. "Honestly, I don't know what you guys were thinking not telling me about her."

Sesshoumaru sighed. There was no point arguing anymore. He slid into the car, closed the door, and waited to arrive at Kouga's estate….as soon as possible.

The car ride to Kouga's estate was a quiet one. Neither Sesshoumaru or Kagome made and effort to make any conversation. It wasn't and uncomfortable silence, just a silent one.

When the car stopped they exited it and walked up to the door where Kagome rang the bell. It wasn't a very long wait until the door swung open revealing Kouga's wife and mate, Taikai.

"Oh Kagome! It's so good to see you again!" Taikai exclaimed taking Kagome into her arms in a death grip nearly cutting off all of Kagome's breathing. Pulling away Kagome finally got her first good look at her.

Taikai was beautiful. She looked just like she did when they first met except she was slender and calm. Her silky black hair was pulled back into a French braid that went down to her waist, her emerald green eyes framed by her beautiful dark lashes, and her lightly tanned skin seemed to glisten.

When Kagome caught her breath from her bone crushing hug she was already inside the estate. She took a deep settling breath and then turned to Taikai. "You look wonderful. I'm so glad we could finally meet under normal circumstances. Your home is beautiful too." Kagome told her looking around her surroundings.

The estate was far different from the surroundings she was used to seeing Kouga in. There were no furs or caves around here. No, now he seemed to prefer an estate with marble floors, chandeliers, and grand staircases. It didn't look like Kouga, but it did look like Taikai.

"Where is everyone else?" Kagome questioned as her gaze came to rest once again on Taikai.

"Kouga's on his was home from the office and the kids are upstairs. They'll be down any minute now. They already know you're here." Taikai responded closing the door behind Sesshoumaru. "It's very nice to see you again Lord Sesshoumaru." She said finally acknowledging his presence.

"You as well Taikai." He responded politely. He was not unaware of the fact that this night was primarily for Kagome.

With the door closed Taikai lead them into another room. This room was furnished much like the great common room at home. It was a large room with a sunken pit of couches in a circle around a coffee table. There was a giant T.V on one wall and an assortment of other comfy looking chairs scattered around the room. All in all it was a lovely looking room. It was simple and functional.

"Have a seat; I'll go get the kids." Taikai said as she gestured toward the couches and turned to leave the room. "KIDS, WE HAVE VISITORS!" she shouted in true mother fashion up the grand staircase.

It didn't take long for the sounds of footsteps to echo down the staircase and for two young looking men to appear in the doorway next to their mother.

"Kagome, this is Akihiko." Taikai said gesturing toward the first "kid" to walk through the door. He looked just like his mother. He was tall, lean, had the same black silky hair (except his was cut short), and the same emerald eyes. "And this is Jiro." She said gesturing toward her second son. He looked like Kouga. He had blue eyes, scruffy black hair cut short, and an arrogant smile on his face. "Boys, this is Kagome. She's Lord Sesshoumaru's mate." She paused. "And the woman who delivered you."

"It's nice to see how well you two have grown up." Kagome said smiling kindly at the two of them. "But don't you have a sister?" she asked a little confused.

"Oh you know how girls are, they're always late." Jiro said walking into the room and sitting across from Kagome and Sesshoumaru.

"Yeah, she's probably still up in her room "primping". She takes forever to get ready whenever we do anything. That's why it's easier to leave her home." Akihiko agreed sitting down next to his brother.

"You know what, I don't take nearly as long to get ready as you two do most of the time. But I wanted to make a little extra effort tonight for our special guests. I can see neither of you made that consideration before bounding down the stairs. Honestly, we have the lord and lady of the western lands in our home and you two are sitting there on the couch in jeans and polo shirts." Said a female voice from the door way.

Kagome's head snapped toward the door. She knew that voice. But, that's not possible. That couldn't be right. There is no way the owner of that voice could be here, not now. She should be dead. "Eri?" Kagome questioned looking fully at the girl who had just entered the room.

"Hello Kagome. It's been a long time. I'm really glad to see you again." The dark haired, blue eyed woman standing before her said.


	15. Slumber Party

"Eri…" Kagome said once more in disbelief. She then took a deep breath, closed her eyes and turned around to face Sesshoumaru. "You were right. I should have come alone. After all, I was the one who really wanted to come. Why don't you just go home?" She said opening her eyes to look at him.

"Kagome I…" Sesshoumaru began but was cut off.

"I REALLY don't want to hear it right now. You promised. You looked me in the eyes and told me that you would not keep anything else from me. And here we are. Once again we're faced with a situation where you knew something that I would want to know but you decided to keep it from me." Kagome said getting more and more angry as she thought about it. "And I don't care if it's not a life threatening thing, you should have told me. Now I would like some time to talk to my friend. Alone." Kagome finished turning back toward Eri.

Sesshoumaru took a step toward Kagome. "Don't." Kagome told him turning around quickly. "Just go."

Giving one last glance at his mate, Sesshoumaru turned and headed toward the door. He knew this wasn't over but for now there was nothing he could do.

Once Sesshoumaru was out the door, Kagome turned once again to Eri. "It's sooooo good to see you!" She told her friend giving her a tight hug. "It's going to be really nice having another old friend back in my life."

Eri returned the hug whole heartedly. When they pulled apart she looked at her friend. "You were pretty hard on him weren't you?" She asked.

"We are SO not talking about this right now! We have far more important things to talk about. Like…you need to catch me up on the last 700 years of your life." Kagome said with a giggle letting go of the past five minutes.

Eri sighed. "We might have to have a sleep over." She said.

"You know that's an amazing idea. That would definitely be an amazing idea." Kagome told her. "I do not feel like going home tonight anyway…"

"Kagome, he's only trying to protect you." Eri told her pulling her into the room and sitting down on the couch with her brothers.

Kagome sat down next to her and sighed again. "Don't tell me that. I've heard the same thing over and over and over and over again. Right now all I want to do is talk to you, your brothers, and your parents and catch up on all I missed. I really need some good old fashioned talking right about now."

"Oh are we allowed to join the conversation now? I thought we were going to have to watch the little reunion show happen all night." Jiro said reclining on the sofa next to his sister.

Eri smacked him. "If you hadn't seen one of your best friends in almost 200 years you would have a lot to talk about too."

"It's not like you've been up to a whole lot since the last time you saw her." Akihiko chimed in from the other side of Eri.

"Shut up." Eri told him agitated.

Kagome giggled. This was definitely going to be a fun night.

The group sat in the great room for a while longer talking. They talked about the past, the present and the future. Kagome got to get to know Eri's brothers and mother, and got to reconnect with Eri.

About an hour after they began talking, Kouga walked in to the room. "Hey, looks like I missed some good times." He said walking in to the room and giving his mate a kiss. He took a moment to say hello to the rest of his family before looking at Kagome. "Where's Sesshoumaru?"

"I've decided we're not going to talk about him for the rest of the evening." Kagome answered calmly.

Kouga looked from Kagome to Taikai who gave him a "just go with it" look. He sighed and then decided to change the conversation. "So, did you have dinner yet?" he asked.

"Nope, we were waiting for you." Taikai responded getting up. "But now that you're here I'm going to go check on it. Be right back." She said with a smile and walked out of the room.

A few minutes later the whole group found themselves in the dinning room eating a wonderful home cooked meal. There was something for everyone. Some roasted chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes, salad, and that wasn't even counting dessert. Blueberry pie. Taikai was an awesome cook.

After the meal everyone helped clean up and returned to the great room for coffee and more catching up.

"So Kagome, am I forgiven?" Kouga asked quietly.

Kagome put her coffee cup on the table in front of her, sat back, and looked at Kouga with a hard expression on her face. "I guess so. You are forgiven." She finally said breaking a smile.

"YES! NO MORE OFFICE BEAT DOWNS!" Kouga cheered from the couch. "Now I won't have to file that restraining order."

"Oh shut up. I didn't hit you that hard." Kagome said taking a sip of coffee.

"Why is there no video of this beat down?" Jiro groaned. "That would have been awesome to put on the internet."

"You wouldn't dare." Kouga glowered at his son.

"Oh yes I would." He responded to his father then looked at Kagome. "Please, PLEASE take pictures or video or something next time you beat him up. PLEASE?"

"Deal." Kagome laughed.

"Kagome! You wouldn't." Kouga shouted.

"Well I don't know….lie to me again. We'll see how it goes." She retorted nonchalantly taking another sip of her coffee.

Kouga opened and closed his mouth a few times before deciding that it was wise to just stay quiet.

Time ticked by with lots more conversation, funny yet embarrassing stories, and laughter. Before any of them realized it the clock on the fireplace mantel chimed one in the morning.

"Crap. Sorry Kagome, I think it's time we call it a night. We do have work tomorrow you know." Kouga said getting up and beginning to collect now long empty coffee mugs.

"I think I'm going to play hooky tomorrow. I really don't feel like talking to Sesshoumaru yet." She responded handing her cup to Kouga.

"Well where you going to stay tonight?" he asked.

"Well I was planning on going to stay with Akari. I haven't seen her in a while and it might be nice to drop by." She responded politely.

"Dad…" Eri piped in standing up to take a few mugs from him.

"Well you know you're always welcome here." Kouga told her taking his daughters hint.

"That would be awesome. I can visit with Akari tomorrow while I'm not a work." She laughed.

"Come on Kagome. Lets go find you some pajamas! I can't wait to have a sleep over with you again. It's been such a long time. We should tell ghost stories, talk about boys, and complain about school." Eri babbled on excitedly as she grabbed Kagome's hand and pulling her with her out of the room and up the stairs.

"Eri, you do realize we're not in school together anymore right?"

"Haha yes, I guess I just got excited." Eri responded as she pulled Kagome through a set of doors and into her room. "Well, here we are!" she said spreading her arms out and spinning around.

Kagome took a look at her friends room. It was huge. She had a king sized canopy bed, big screen tv, two couches, computer desk complete with state of the art computer and stereo system, and a beautiful bureau and vanity set. And to top it all off the whole room was done in cherry wood and dark purples. It was very Eri.

"What do you think?" Eri asked.

"I think we should have had sleep overs here when we were in high school instead of my house where we had to sleep on the hard floor in the living room." She told her wide eyed looking around the room.

"Wish we could have…I would have been spared a ton of back pain." Eri replied rubbing her lower back in remembrance.

"I know. I wish my life wasn't so complicated. I hate time travel." Kagome sighed flopping down on her friends oversized overstuffed bed. "Oh….my…..god. We are NEVER getting out of this bed."

Eri laughed and threw a set of silk pajamas at Kagome.

After they were all changed and ready for bed, Kagome and Eri sat on the bed and watched old movies together for a while. That is until Kagome's phone began ringing, and ringing, and ringing, and for a change of pace, ringing.

"You should probably answer it." Eri told her.

"No. I know who it is." Kagome told her angrily pushing the ignore button for the tenth time.

"That's not the point. You should tell him you're alive at least."

"I don't wanna." Kagome whined childishly pushing the ignore button one more time.

"Kagome, he loves you. Just let him know you need some time and that you're safe."

"Fine." Kagome said waiting a few seconds for the phone to ring again. "I'm spending the night at Kouga's. And I won't be at work tomorrow and I don't know if I'm going to be home tomorrow night. I need some time to think so please just give me some space." She practically spat into the phone and hung up. She waited a few seconds staring at the phone and when it didn't ring she placed it on the nightstand. "Happy?" she asked looking at Eri.

"Sort of. I was kind of hoping you'd be a little nicer." Eri responded.

"How come you're all defensive of him all of a sudden?" Kagome asked.

"Well he was really good to our family when I was growing up. That's all."

"All right I think it might be time to go to sleep. We can talk more tomorrow. And maybe do some fun things." Kagome suggested.

"I think you're right. Good night Kagome."

"Good night Eri."

The girls climbed into Eri's giant bed, pulled up the sheets, and turned out the lights. And five minutes late at least one of them was asleep. One of them was thinking about all the things that seemed to be mucked up in her life because of a certain jewel.

"Kagome. Kagome….KAAAGGGGGOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEE…."

"No…"

"No what. I didn't ask anything. Wake up!"

"That's what I'm saying no to. Now leave me alone, I'm sleeping." Kagome said pulling the comforter up over her head.

"No, you're waking up." Eri said pulling the covers completely off the bed.

"WHY! Why am I waking up!" Kagome shouted curling up in the fetal position clenching her eyes shut.

"Wow. You are a baby in the morning….or afternoon. You're waking up because it's 1:30 in the afternoon." Eri said walking over the floor to ceiling windows and wrenching the curtains apart spreading shafts of sunshine all over the room, including right across Kagome's face.

Kagome sat up in bed, shielded her eyes from the sun, and glared at her friend. "I hate you. Is it too late to go stay with Akari? She would have let me sleep…." Kagome grumbled as she brushed the sleep out of her eyes.

Eri laughed. "Come on Kagome, it's time to start the day. I want to see the place you grew up in…a second time. Also, we have some things to talk about."

Kagome looked up at the direction the conversation was going. "Uh oh, what things do we have to talk about?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, nothing bad, I just have a few questions no one would or could answer when you were gone." Eri replied going through her closet picking out clothes for both her and her friend.

"Like what? I find it difficult to believe that there was a question the great Sesshoumaru couldn't answer." Kagome said getting up and poking through the closet with her friend.

"Well I was just wondering how you're very human two friends happened to be alive all this time?" Eri asked. "No one seems to know. Even Miroku and Sango are clueless. And believe me, I've asked."

"Oooohhhhh…" Kagome said realizing what her friend was talking about.

"Oh, that's all you have to say?" Eri said turning her full attention on Kagome.

"Well that's a long story. And I don't really know if it's true. It's just my speculation." Kagome told her friend pulling a light blue sundress out of the closet and holding it up to her chin.

"Well are you going to tell me? We do have some time you know." Eri asked raising her eyebrow at her very frustrating friend.

"Well one day when I was back in the feudal era…." Kagome began.

Muwahahahahahahahahahahaha….sorry. I'm tired.


	16. Cocktails and Girl Talk

"Well one day when I was back in the feudal era, after I had become a demon, we were all at Kaede's hut sleeping. I don't really remember if it was after a big fight or before but something big had just recently happened. It wasn't a very memorable moment in any case." She paused and pulled on a pair of jeans Eri had handed her. "Well we were all in one place in any case. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Me….I don't think Sesshoumaru was there. But you get the point. It was a lot of us in the little hut." She stopped once more to put on a white tank top underneath a light blue tank top. Then she pulled on a light weight white sweater. "Everyone else was asleep and like usual I wasn't. All I remember about that night is that I was looking around at everyone thinking about all the good times we had had and thinking I never wanted the good times to stop. And for that to happen I remember thinking that I wish that Miroku and Sango would live as long as a demon could." She stopped and looked at her friend.

"And? Something else had to have happened that night. That can't be the end of the story." Eri complained tying the laces on her sneakers.

"Well, again I don't really remember what happened and since no one else was awake I have no one to cooberate the story, I thought I remembered seeing a light blue glow encompass Sango and Miroku's sleeping forms." Kagome finished feeling as if that was the end to the story.

"A blue light? What is that supposed to mean?" Eri asked growing more and more frustrated with the fact that her friends story seemed to be coming in choppy pieces.

"Oh that right, you weren't really around for much of the "blue light" times." Kagome giggled. "When I use my miko powers it appears like I'm using blue light sabers."

"OHHHHHH!" Eri exclaimed in sudden realization. "So what you're saying is that somehow you used your miko powers to give them the life span of a demon?"

"Yeah but I have no idea how." Kagome told her. She then turned to look at her friend. "So, you ready to see my second lifetime home?"

"Yeah but we're going to have to think more on this topic. I would really like to know the real answer to this question. It seems like someone would have looked into this matter more to me."

"Well you know, I guess after I died people had other things to worry about." Kagome said dryly walking to the door.

"Wow, way to be so morbid Kagome. And its not like you stayed dead for long anyway. You never really do…" Eri stated following Kagome out of the room.

The two women walked down the winding staircase to the kitchen where they rummaged through cabinets and refrigerators to find something to eat for breakfast….or rather lunch. Once they had decided on appropriate food stuffs they sat down at the table to eat their meal. It wasn't a particularly exciting meal. Just some sandwiches and chips and the conversation was light too. Chit chatting about the weather that day and how they were planning on getting to Kagome's manner. After finishing their meals and cleaning up the dishes they decided it was time to head out.

"It's actually only a few blocks from here. It wouldn't be too hard to walk. Or I could call Shouron and have him bring the car to drive us." Kagome suggested.

"Nah, we can walk. We're relatively young and in shape people. We should be able to hoof it without problems." Eri responded lightly grabbing Kagome's hand and pulling it through the crook of her arm and heading for the door. "Now lets not waist any more of this beautiful day and get going!"

"Yes, lets." Kagome agreed as the two of them headed for the door.

Kagome and Eri walked down the front steps and down the long drive way. Once they got to the street Kagome let out a huge sigh.

"What's wrong with you?" Eri asked.

"Nothing, I'm just ready to live in the present. I've spent so much of my life hopping between two periods of time. And now I'm here and the well is dormant. All I want to do is have everything be alright." Kagome said with a smile.

"Does this mean you're going to forgive Sesshoumaru soon?" Eri asked hopefully.

"I'm going to have to. We're going to have a little talk and then I'm going to just move on. And hopefully that'll be it and nothing else will come up."

"That seems to be the right attitude. And I'm sure Sesshoumaru will be happy to hear that."

The two continued walking down the street quietly for a while breaking the silence with polite conversation. They were about halfway to the manner Kagome began getting a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Without saying a word she began steering Eri down a different path away from their destination.

"You do know where you're going, right?" Eri said noticing the change in direction having a loose idea of where the manner was.

"Yes I do know where I'm going. Look, I just really need you to play along for a little while. We're going to go the long way." Kagome said tightly squeezing her arm that was through Eri's arm a little tighter.

Eri picked up on her friends' mood and agreed quietly.

They continued to walk changing their direction here and there. By the third turn Kagome was sure they were being followed, and not by someone with good intentions.

"I'm just going to make a quick phone call." Kagome announced to Eri as she let go of her and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She quickly dialed the correct numbers and waited for the phone to ring. She didn't have to wait long because the person she was calling was eager to talk to her.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end of the line answered.

"Hey Sesshoumaru. I just wanted to call and let you know that Kenji called me the other day to tell me to wish my mom a happy birthday." Kagome said into the phone.

"Where are you?" Sesshoumaru asked in an urgent voice.

"We're about halfway to the manner but we are taking the long way." Kagome responded in a hushed tone.

"Keep heading toward the manner. Don't change you're course again." He told her quickly and hung up.

Even though he was no longer on the line Kagome continued the conversation loud enough for anyone near to hear. "Alright well I just wanted you to know how nice he was to call. He didn't have to do that. I'll talk to you later." She finished and put the phone in her pocket.

"Kagome, what's going on?" Eri asked in a hushed voice.

"Nothings happening. We're fine. We're gonna go to the manner as we planned and have a great time!" Kagome told her friend with a reassuring smile.

Again walking toward the manner the two women were suddenly flanked by Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha who seemed to appear out of an alley.

Kagome sighed as she felt the feeling in her stomach dissipated and the front gate of the manner came into view.

Eri noticed that Kagome had relaxed and when they stopped to open the gate she turned to look at her entourage. "Will someone please tell me what just happened? Why are you two here?" she half shouted.

"We were being followed. I called Sesshoumaru and used our 'emergency code phrase' to let him know we were in trouble. I probably would have been able to handle any iffy situations but I didn't want to take the risk with you here. I just go you back, didn't want to risk losing you." Kagome answered turning toward Sesshoumaru. "Thank you for coming."

Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome. "There are some things we need to discus." He told her simply.

"I know but right now Eri and I are going to go into the manner and have a visit with Akari. Then tonight when I come home we will talk. Alright?" Kagome countered calmly.

"That is agreeable." Sesshoumaru agreed. He then turned to Inuyasha. "I think we should get back to work."

"Really? That's it? We came all this way just to have a little jaunt down the street?" Inuyasha complained.

Kagome laughed. "No, you came all the way down here for a nice little jaunt down the street with your favorite sister-in-law and best friend." She responded.

"Whatever. Come on lets just go." Inuyasha said turning to go back to the office.

"I'll see you both later at home. Thanks for coming again." Kagome told them as they walked away. She then turned back to Eri. "Lets go. I want to get into the manner."

They continued to go through the gate then up the driveway. Kagome burst through the huge double doors of the manner and took a deep breath. "!" she shouted.

And then, it was like hell itself opened up. Akari, who had been in the library, sprinted down the hallway and screamed. "KAGGGOOOOOMMMEEEEE! OH MY GOD! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER! HOW ARE YOU?" She said going over and squeezing the life out of her friend.

Eri stood by and watched this overly emotional reunion quietly waiting for her chance to break in to the conversation. As it turns out she didn't have to wait long before Kagome and Akari turned in her direction.

"Akari this is my friend Eri. You remember I used to talk about her? Eri this is my friend Akari." Kagome said formally introducing her friends to each other.

"This can't be the Eri you would talk about." Akari exclaimed with her mouth hanging open in disbelief. "Didn't you say she was human? Wouldn't she be like two hundred years old by now?"

"It's nice to meet you too. And actually I'm closer to five hundred years old. I was born roughly two hundred years after Kagome 'died'." Eri responded sticking her hand out for a handshake.

Akari looked from Eri to Kagome and back to Eri before ignoring the hand and giving her a bear hug. "Oh it's so good when good things happen. I love surprises!" she released the now stunned Eri and stepped back. "I'm glad you both decided to come over today. I was so bored I was actually reading in the library."

"Wow you must have been bored. The whole time we were living together you never stepped one foot in there." Kagome said abashed.

"Yep that's how bored I was. And god forbid I do something productive like get a job or something. Hey did I feel Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha outside before you came in?"

"Yes they were here but they went back to the office. How about we go get something to drink?" Kagome said stepping further into the manner.

"She and Sesshoumaru are kind of in a fight right now." Eri informed Akari as they followed Kagome to the wet bar in the lounge.

Once settled at the bar with cocktails firmly in hand, the three women talked about everything. Kagome hadn't seen Akari since before she took her trip back to the past and that took up a good portion of the early conversation. Then the conversation turned from Eri being the daughter of her friend, to the fight with Sesshoumaru, to why Akari still doesn't have a job.

"WHY do I need to get a job?" Akari whined. "I don't need one. I've still got some money your parents left me! I can make it last. How about we talk about why you keep shutting Sesshoumaru out like you have been? Hmmm? How about we talk about that?" she countered successfully changing the conversation.

"You know Kagome, she has a point. You can hold grudges for excessive periods of time. You should learn to let go of things and move on. You never know what tomorrow brings. You should know that. You wouldn't want something to happen to you, god forbid, and have been fighting with him." Eri mused after taking a sip of her drink.

Kagome sat still on her stool looking at her drink. She knew they were right. And she was uniquely qualified to know that one never knows what tomorrow will bring. One day she's enjoying the company of her mate and the next she's dead. She really didn't want that to happen again. She had put her family through so much. She shuttered at the thought of anything happening to her or any other member of her family.

"You're both right. After we're done here I'm going home, talking to my mate, and getting things cleared up. I don't want to live life angry. I want to make every day count." She paused and looked up at her friends. "You two really are good friends. I'm lucky to have you both."

"You're right, you are." Akari confirmed matter-of-factly.

"You don't have to be so smug about it." Kagome retorted smacking Akari playfully on the shoulder.

"Oh yes I do. I don't have much to be smug about but you telling me I'm right definitely is one of them." Akari laughed holding her shoulder in pretend pain.

The women continued their happy hour until a phone rang. Although Kagome was happy that it wasn't her phone, for once, she was curious to see who was calling Eri and after a short conversation she had her answer.

"My dad says that he wants me back at the house. Something about family time? He probably wants to ask me tons of questions about what you and I talked about." Eri said looking at Kagome. "He's a bit of a gossip whore. Actually I think he wants to make sure he's not going to get another office beat down." She finished with a giggle.

"Alrighty then, I should probably get back to the palace to put an end to our little tiff." Kagome said setting down her drink and pulling out her cell phone. "But we're not walking. We're not taking that risk until I know what's really going on. I'll call Shouron and have him come give us a lift. He won't mind. He'll be just as relieved to know I'm going to be home tonight."

With the call being made and the estimated time of arrival at T-minus ten minutes the three, now tipsy friends took the opportunity to finish their drink….and their gossip. It didn't take long for everyone to forget what they were waiting for before a loud knock on the front door gave them all a little startle.

"COME IIIINNNNNNN!" Akari shouted at the top of her lungs too lazy and boozed up to actually make the effort to let the visitor in.

"And what if that was one of the people who was following Eri and I this afternoon?" Kagome said in mock annoyance.

"Well is it?" Akari countered.

"No it's not, but it could have been." Kagome retorted pouting slightly.

Shouron walked around the corner and was greeted over enthusiastically with waves, shouts, and giggles. "Wow, we're being really mature in here aren't we? And here you all are drinking and I didn't get an invitation. I might actually be hurt." He said feigning actual hurt with his hand over his heart.

"Hey, they just talked me out of being angry with Sesshoumaru a little while ago. Lets not ruin anything right now by making me be angry with you." Kagome said standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

Shouron laughed at her then turned his attention to Eri and Akari. "I suppose I'll forget about this grievous injustice due to the fact that I'm thrilled that we're going to have a calm night. Really, it's going to be the first in a while."

"Hey mister fancy talk, can it." Akari said simply.

Kagome chuckled and hugged Akari goodbye. "We should go, koga's waiting for Eri at home. We'll drop her off then go home. Is that alright?" She asked Shouron after releasing Akari.

"That sounds fine to me. Everyone will be happy to have you home tonight." He responded.

With glasses cleaned up and good-byes being said Kagome, Shouron, and Eri headed to the car. From there it was a short ride to Eri's house where they dropped her at the gate. And one more stop and Kagome and Shouron were walking up to the palace.

I apologize for any misspelling or horrible grammar. Enjoy it for what it is, a fun story. Please don't over criticize.


End file.
